TipRanks
3 ‘Strong Buy’ Stocks with Over 7% Dividend Yield
It’s been up, up, and away for the markets since the end of September. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 are trading within 3% of their recent record high levels, after counting for daily fluctuations. It’s a clear sign of a bullish mood among investors.And that bullish mood is finding fertile soil among Wall Street’s stock analysts, who are not hesitant to make buy-side calls. There are some indications that the analysts are hedging their bets, however, as among the recent Buy reviews published several also offer strong dividend yields.Return-minded investors can find a degree of safety in high-yielding equities. The advantage of such a fundamentally defensive strategy is obvious: stocks that are rising now will bring the immediate gains of share appreciation, while strong dividends will provide a steady income stream regardless of market conditions.Using the data available in the TipRanks database, we’ve pulled up three stocks with high yields – from 7% to 9%. Even better, these stocks are seen as Strong Buys by Wall Street’s analysts. Let’s find out why.Energy Transfer LP (ET)First up is Energy Transfer, a major name in North America’s hydrocarbon midstream sector. The company’s primary network of assets covers 38 states and links three major oil and gas production regions – in the Midwest-Appalachian and Texas-Oklahoma-Louisiana regions, along with North Dakota. Energy Transfer has smaller assets in the Colorado Rockies, Florida, and northern Alberta. These assets include pipelines, terminals, and storage tanks for natural gas and crude oil. The value of ET’s services is clear from the company’s $18 billion market cap and $54 billion in annual revenues.That value, along with the effects of the health and economic crises of 2020, are also clear from the company’s recent third quarter earnings release. On the negative side, revenues were down 26% from the year-ago quarter, while EPS was down 18%. In absolute numbers, the top line came in at $9.96 million while the bottom line was reported at 30 cents per share. Both figures beat the forecasts by a wide margin.Beating the forecasts was a positive note. On another, the company reported $400 million in cost savings year-to-date, due to initiatives to control and streamline expenses. Total debt long-term debt remained stable at $54 million.In an announcement at the end of October, Energy Transfer declared its Q3 dividend, at 15.25 cents per common share. This was a 50% reduction from previous payments, and implemented for several reasons. Chief among those reasons is releasing cash for debt reduction. The dividend reduction also keeps the dividend yield in line with historical values (with the shares down this year, the yield was artificially inflated), and affordable at current income levels. The new dividend…
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