There are excellent reasons to invest in dividend stocks beyond their regular payouts. Growing a dividend requires companies to deliver solid financial results regularly, and the longer a corporation can keep things going, the more it says about the strength of its operations. Furthermore, investors who choose to reinvest dividends can boost long-term returns. Over several decades, a substantial percentage of market returns are due to dividends being reinvested.
Of course, not all income stocks are equally promising. But one that looks attractive right now is drugmaker AbbVie (ABBV 0.48%). Here is why.
AbbVie's stellar dividend history
AbbVie was once a division of the medical device giant Abbott Laboratories. The two companies officially divorced in 2013. But it is through this legacy that AbbVie is considered a Dividend King -- one of the most elite group of dividend payers on the market. What does it take to be a Dividend King? Companies must have raised their payouts for at least 50 consecutive years without interruptions. AbbVie officially joined this group in 2022, nine years after splitting from Abbott.
In other words, as a stand-alone company, the drugmaker also prioritizes rewarding shareholders with regular dividend hikes. In the past 10 years, the pharmaceutical giant has increased its payouts by 270%. AbbVie's dividend profile is exemplary in other ways. Consider the company's yield of 3.99%. The S&P 500's average is just 1.54%. Also, AbbVie's cash payout ratio of 42% is conservative and means there is plenty more room for dividend hikes.
NYSE: ABBV
Key Data Points
Handling its biggest headwind
Naysayers will quickly mention that AbbVie now faces generic competition in the U.S. for its best-selling medicine, arthritis therapy Humira. It has been, by far, AbbVie's biggest growth driver since 2013. This is, without a doubt, the biggest obstacle AbbVie has encountered as a stand-alone company. But management knew it was coming from several miles away and took adequate precautions.
AbbVie's sales are currently declining and will do so until next year. After that, they should start growing again, in no small part thanks to a duo of immunology drugs, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, that are plugging up the gaping hole left by Humira. They aren't doing so entirely yet, but according to management, Skyrizi and Rinvoq will combine to generate peak annual sales that will surpass those of Humira.
This is no small feat, even in a two-against-one contest. Humira is the best-selling medicine in the history of the industry. The fact that AbbVie found a way to replace its earnings, albeit with two drugs, is just more evidence of the company's ability to continue developing newer and better medicines, a great sign for the future. AbbVie's more than 90 pipeline programs should help it unearth more gems of this kind.
Meanwhile, the rest of the company's lineup will also contribute, from its Botox products to its migraine treatment Qulipta. So, despite facing generic competition for Humira, AbbVie is far from dead in the water.
Income-seekers need not look elsewhere
While no one can precisely predict the future, AbbVie's excellent dividend history and robust business strongly suggest that the company is unlikely to suspend its payouts anytime soon. Considering how difficult it is to join the club of Dividend Kings -- and that missing even one year of raising its dividends would lead to its being booted out -- the smart money is on AbbVie to continue growing its payouts for a while.
That's why dividend investors can't go wrong with this stock, and right now, they can acquire it at a bit of a discount. Top-shelf dividend stocks tend to attract many investors who bid up their share prices, leading to relatively rich valuation metrics. But AbbVie's Humira-related struggles have created an opportunity. The company's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is just 13.3 as of this writing -- compared to an average forward P/E of 16.1 for the pharmaceutical industry.
At current levels, AbbVie looks like a strong buy for income-seeking investors.
