No return is guaranteed in the stock market. However, investors can have a high degree of certainty when it comes to dividend payments from quality companies.
Diamondback Energy (FANG 0.32%) offers a combination of a stable dividend and upside exposure to high energy prices. NextEra Energy Partners (NEP -0.89%) passes along returns from its massive renewable energy generation portfolio to investors in the form of dividends. AbbVie (ABBV -4.58%) is a gigantic biopharma company that reduces the risks associated with the performance of a single drug by maintaining a diversified portfolio.
Investors can expect to earn at least $500 in passive income after investing $3,500 equally in these three stocks and waiting four years. Here's why all three dividend stocks are worth buying now.
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A dividend stock for energy bulls
Lee Samaha (Diamondback Energy): I don't know what Diamondback's dividend will be next year, nor does the investment community at large -- and, for that matter, neither does its management. The reason is that the company returns capital to investors through a combination of a base dividend (which it intends to maintain), a variable dividend whose amount fluctuates with the price of energy and Diamondback's production, and opportunistic share buybacks.
The company's current quarterly base dividend is $0.84, equating to $3.36 a year, generating a yield of around 2.2% at the time of writing. However, the current variable dividend takes that full-year dividend up to $6.88, meaning a 4.4% dividend yield at current prices.
While it's impossible to know where the price of oil is heading, and a collapse in the price will pressure Diamondback's ability to pay its base and variable dividend, the company stands relatively well placed in the industry due to its use of hedging. Management has hedge protection at $55 a barrel of oil to protect its base dividend down to a price of oil of $40 a barrel. As I write, the price of oil is about $91.
Moreover, Diamondback is not a company generating cash by running off assets. On the contrary, management plans to increase oil production by 17% in 2023, and it has expanded its total proven reserves at a compound annual growth rate of 19.6% over the last four years.
It all adds up to the company that can pay a good dividend across a range of oil price scenarios, and if the current strength in energy prices continues, the company is likely to hike the dividend in 2024.
Give your passive income a jolt with NextEra Energy Partners
Scott Levine (NextEra Energy Partners): There's no denying the pride in getting paid for putting in a hard day's work. But there's something equally rewarding about making savvy investment decisions and getting paid for doing nothing -- an opportunity that picking up shares of NextEra Energy Partners affords. With its 5.7% forward-yielding dividend, the clean energy utility stock is a powerhouse opportunity for income investors, and the best part is that it's currently on sale.
Including nuclear, solar, and battery assets, NextEra Energy Partners operates a clean energy portfolio totaling about 67 gigawatts (GW). But wait, there's more. The company recently announced in its second-quarter 2023 financial results that it has a backlog that includes 20 GW of wind, solar, and energy storage projects.
Because the company often signs long-term power purchase agreements with customers, NextEra Energy Partners has substantial insight into future cash flows. This helps management plan for capital expenditures, including raising the dividend. Over the 15-year period from 2007 to 2022, for example, the company has increased its dividend at a compound annual growth rate of 9.9%. The company forecasts growing the dividend 10% annually through 2024, and with management guiding for adjusted earnings per share to grow 6% to 8% from 2024 to 2026, it's not far-fetched to think that the dividend will similarly rise higher.
With shares of NextEra Energy Partners changing hands at 6.3 times operating cash flow, income investors have a great opportunity to scoop up this dividend darling at a discount since the stock's five-year average cash flow multiple is 8.1.
A safer way to invest in big biopharma
Daniel Foelber (AbbVie): AbbVie is one of the most powerful biopharma companies out there. The company's objective is simple: research and develop a portfolio of aesthetic (like Botox), oncology, neuroscience, eye care, and virology drugs and treatments. The portfolio will have its winners and losers. But as long as the pipeline is strong enough, AbbVie can handle the losses of patent exclusivity, which is what happened recently with its top drug Humira.
AbbVie's strong portfolio of products has led to growth in the stock price (up 77.8% in the last three years) and dividend growth. Including the years prior to the split from Abbott Laboratories (ABT 0.63%) in 2013, AbbVie is a Dividend King. In fact, it is one of just seven large-cap Dividend Kings with a yield of over 3%.
AbbVie has the growth and the income of an excellent investment. And to top it all off, it also has an inexpensive valuation, with a forward price to earnings ratio of just 13.8.
The greatest risk with AbbVie is that future earnings and its ability to pay a growing dividend depend on coming up with new blockbuster drugs. That is no easy feat. But AbbVie has a track record of maintaining a capable pipeline. And for that reason, it's the best overall big biopharma stock out there.