Best Dividend Stocks June 2021

In my experience, great dividend stocks have a few characteristics: strong fundamentals, increasing dividend distributions over time, and bullish trading activity in the shares.

The hallmark way I go about finding the best dividend stocks…the outliers, is by looking for quiet Big Money trading activity. Oftentimes, that can be institutional activity. I’ll go over why following the Big Money is so important in a bit. But, the 5 stocks I see as long-term dividend growth candidates are ABT, COST, ADI, MCD, & NKE.

Over decades, I’ve learned that the true tell on great stocks is that big money consistently finds its way into the best companies out there… especially dividend paying stocks. Some of the biggest returns ever have come from holding stocks for many years and reinvesting dividends.

I want the odds on my side when looking for the highest quality dividend stocks…and I own many of them.

So, let’s get into it.

Up first is Abbott Laboratories, Inc. (ABT), which is a seller of health care products globally. Their product lines include pharmaceuticals, nutrition, diagnostics, and medical devices.

Let’s first start with the technical picture.

When deciding on a strong candidate for long-term dividend growth, I look for stocks seeing a pullback:

• 1 month performance (-3.41%)
• Historical Big Money buy signals

Below are the Big Money signals Abbott Labs has made since 2015. Green bars are showing that ABT was seeing big buy activity according to MAPsignals. Typically, the more Big Money signals, the stronger the stock:

Source: MAPsignals, End of day data sourced from Tiingo.com

On top of technicals, when deciding on the best dividend stock, you should look under the hood to see if the fundamental picture supports a long-term investment. As you can see, ABT has a strong dividend history:

• 3-year dividend growth rate (+10.8%)
• Current dividend per share = .45
• Forward yield = 1.54%
• 3-year earnings growth rate (+158.04%)

Next up is Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), which operates membership warehouses in many countries. They offer branded and off-brand retail products.

When deciding on a strong candidate for long-term dividend growth, it’s a good idea to look for many years of dividend increases.

Now let’s look at recent performance:

• 1 month performance (+4.80%)
• Historical big money signals

Below are the big money signals that Costco has made since 2015. I expect more buy signals in the years to come.

Source: MAPsignals, End of day data sourced from Tiingo.com

On top of technicals, when deciding on the best dividend stock, you should look under the hood to see if the fundamental picture supports a long-term investment. As you can see, Costco has a nice dividend history. Their earnings growth has been stellar as well:

• 3-year dividend growth rate (+12.4%)
• Current dividend per share = .79
• Forward yield = .82%
• 3-year earnings growth rate (+14.04%)

Next, I’m looking at Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), which is a leading semiconductor company. They have a solid dividend history.

When deciding on a strong candidate for long-term dividend growth, recent performance in the shares is important:

• 1 month performance (+1.92%)
• Recent Big Money signals

Below are the big money signals that Analog Devices has made since 2015. It’s clear the stock has been in a nice uptrend:

Source: MAPsignals, End of day data sourced from Tiingo.com

On top of technicals, when deciding on the best dividend stock, you should look under the hood to see if the fundamental picture supports a long-term investment. As you can see, ADI has a strong dividend history:

• 3-year dividend growth rate (+10.7%)
• Current dividend per share = .69
• Forward yield = 1.69%
• 3-year earnings growth rate (+24.62%)

Next, I’m looking at McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), which is a global fast-food franchise company. They operate over 39,000 restaurants globally.

When deciding on a strong candidate for long-term dividend growth, recent muted performance is not a bad thing:

• 1 month performance (-.07%)
• Recent Big Money signals

Below are the Big Money signals that McDonald’s has made since 2015.

Source: MAPsignals, End of day data sourced from Tiingo.com

On top of technicals, when deciding on the best dividend stock, let’s check up on the fundamentals. As you can see, McDonald’s has a strong dividend history.

• 3-year dividend growth rate (+9.6%)
• Current dividend per share = 1.29
• Forward yield = 2.2%
• 3-year earnings growth rate (+.9%)

Lastly, I’m looking at NIKE, Inc. (NKE), which is a leading athletic footwear and apparel company.

When deciding on a strong candidate for long-term dividend growth, I like to look for recent leaders:

• 1 month performance (+2.07%)
• Historical Big Money signals

Below are the Big Money signals that NIKE has made since 2015.

Source: MAPsignals, End of day data sourced from Tiingo.com

On top of technicals, when deciding on the best dividend stock, you gotta see if the fundamental picture supports a long-term investment. NIKE has been a steady grower:

• 3-year dividend growth rate (+10.9%)
• Current dividend per share = .275
• Forward yield = .81%
• 3-year earnings growth rate (+8.22%)

The Bottom Line

ABT, COST, ADI, MCD, & NKE represent solid dividend choices. Given the strong historical dividend growth and Big Money signals, these stocks could be worth an extra look for a dividend investor.

Disclosure: the author holds long positions in personal and managed accounts in COST and long positions in managed accounts in ADI & NKE. He holds no positions in ABT & MCD at the time of publication.

To learn more about the MAPsignals process, click here: www.mapsignals.com

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