Dividend stocks are often considered slow-growth investments since companies generally start paying dividends only after they run out of places to invest their excess cash. Many dividend stocks also lost their luster in 2022 and 2023 as rising interest rates made risk-free CDs and U.S. Treasury bills more appealing to income investors.
But as interest rates declined in 2024, many investors rotated back toward dividend stocks. The Federal Reserve is also expected to cut its rates at least one or two more times this year. As those rates come down, even more investors should rush back to high-yielding dividend stocks.
Let's take a closer look at five reliable blue chip dividend stocks that are worth buying before that shift occurs: Coca-Cola (KO 0.94%), Altria Group (MO 1.19%), International Business Machines (IBM -0.88%), Cisco Systems (CSCO -0.49%), and Realty Income (O 1.08%).
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Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, the world's top beverage maker, sells sodas, bottled water, teas, fruit juices, sports drinks, energy drinks, coffee, and even alcoholic drinks. That diversification insulates it from slowing soda consumption, and it's been refreshing its core sodas with smaller serving sizes, healthier versions, and new flavors.
Coca-Cola only sells the syrups and concentrates for its drinks, while its bottling partners actually produce, and sell the finished beverages. That capital-light model enabled the company to generate stable profits and raise its dividends annually for over six decades.
The stock currently pays a forward yield of 3% and looks reasonably valued at 23 times forward earnings, and this evergreen business should generate stable returns through bull and bear markets.
Altria
Altria, the largest tobacco company in the U.S., generates most of its revenue from its flagship Marlboro cigarette brand. But as smoking rates decline across the U.S., it's been rolling out more non-smokable products like snus, nicotine pouches, and e-cigarettes. It's also been raising its cigarette prices, cutting costs, and buying back shares to boost its EPS.
Those strategies have enabled Altria to raise its dividends every year since it spun off its overseas business as Philip Morris International in 2008. The stock currently pays a forward yield of 6.4% and trades at just 12 times forward earnings.
The shares' upside potential should remain limited as Altria gradually diversifies its business away from its shrinking cigarette business, but its high yield and low multiple should also limit its downside potential.
IBM
IBM was once considered an aging tech giant with minimal growth prospects. But over the past five years, it divested its slow-growth infrastructure services segment as Kyndryl and focused on expanding its higher-growth hybrid cloud and AI businesses. Instead of going toe to toe against bigger public cloud companies, it wedged those analytics tools between its clients' on-site servers and public cloud services.
That strategy, which was largely driven by its open-source software subsidiary Red Hat, helped IBM grow again. Management has raised the dividend annually for 30 consecutive years, the stock pays a forward yield of 2.8%, and the shares still looks reasonably valued at 22 times forward earnings.
Cisco
Cisco, the world's largest networking company, struggled with a messy slowdown over the past few years as it slogged through its supply chain and inventory issues. The macro headwinds also drove many companies to rein in their spending on big infrastructure upgrades.
But as it worked through those issues, Cisco continued to expand its ecosystem with big acquisitions like ThousandEyes, Acacia Communications, and Splunk. It's also poised to benefit from a surge in infrastructure spending as more companies upgrade their networks to handle the latest AI applications.
Cisco has largely overcome its previous challenges, and it should grow at a slow but steady clip over the next few years. It pays a forward dividend yield of 2.4%, it has raised that payout annually for 13 consecutive years, and its stock looks like a bargain at 17 times forward earnings.
Realty Income
Realty Income is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that buys a lot of retail properties, rents them out to recession-resistant retailers like Dollar Tree and Walgreens, and splits that rental income with its investors. To maintain a favorable tax rate, it must pay out at least 90% of its taxable income as dividends.
It owns over 15,600 properties, and it has kept its occupancy rate above 96% ever since its public debut in 1994. As interest rates decline, it will become cheaper to expand that portfolio or gobble up its smaller industry peers.
It pays monthly dividends, has a forward yield of 5.6%, and has hiked its payout 131 times since its initial public offering. The stock trades at just 14 times its projected adjusted funds from operations (FFO) per share this year. That low valuation makes it a great place to park your cash ahead of the Fed's next rate cuts.
