Some of the best stocks to hold in any economic environment are dividend stocks. In my opinion, dividend stocks should be at the heart of anyone’s stock portfolio. Good dividend stocks backed by the best companies in the world will help your portfolio stay afloat in just about any market.
When interest rates are low, like they are today, or when there’s a slowdown in the economy typically stocks with dividends will outperform the market. Partly, that’s because people usually have nowhere better to move they’re money. With interest rates low the bond market has low interest rates so dividend stocks look like the better choice.
Don’t go out there and just buy any old dividend stock, and don’t go out there looking for the one with the highest dividend. You’d do better to pick some of the ones that have a history of success. So which ones?
The best Dividend stocks to own for 2015
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)
Dividend and Yield: 2.20 (4.40%)
Verizon Wireless has solidified itself as the company with the best cell phone coverage in America. Go ahead and ask any of your friends who they think has the best mobile coverage and you’ll most likely get Verizon as the most common answer. Whether that is true or not depends on your location. However, there’s no denying Verizon’s stranglehold on the “need to have the best coverage” market. With decades of paying out a strong dividend, and a high 4.4% yield at the moment it’s really hard to not like Verizon.
However, it’s not all on the up and up for Verizon. There has been a huge pricing battle of late in the mobile industry with mobile players Sprint and T-Mobile taking a hit at the Verizon market share with lower prices for consumers. Still though, in this type of environment it’s hard to argue with a 4.4% dividend.
Wells Fargo & Company (WFC)
Dividend and Yield: 1.40 (2.60%)
Wells Fargo is a great company, and one of the best in its industry. It’s had a long history of dividends, and at 2.6% right now it looks very attractive. They currently run about 30% of the US mortgage market, which is just a huge number they were able to get to because of purchases they made during the recent recession. This has Wells Fargo in the best position to take advantage of the rebound in real estate. I expect Wells Fargo to do very well in the long term, and I think it’s one of the best stocks to own in the Banking industry.
The Coca-Cola Company (KO)
Dividend and Yield: 1.32 (3.20%)
I guess you could call this one an American icon. Coca Cola has been around for decades, and for decades it has given out a solid dividend to its investors. Although there has been a recent shift in consumer wants domestically, with the trends moving towards healthier alternatives, internationally Coca Cola is still a behemoth. Also, Coca Cola has made some recent investments into Monster Beverage and Keurig Green Mountain. These investments could prove to be very beneficial to its shareholders, especially if Coca Cola decides to buy them outright sometime in the future.
The Procter & Gamble Company (PG)
Dividend and Yield: 2.57 (3.10%)
This stock has a history of paying out dividends going back decades. A strong consumer personal and household products and services company, P&G would look great in any stock portfolio. Selling at about a 10% discount from its highs right now I can’t help but recommend this as a good choice dividend stock. In the short term, I’m not too sure this is a great trade, but I’m not recommending it as a trade. I’m recommending it as a buy and hold stock for the long term.
Deere & Company (DE)
Dividend and Yield: 2.40 (2.70%)
Deere is a strong player for the industrials side of the market. Their iconic machinery and equipment have been around for decades. For decades they’ve also pumped out a solid dividend to their investors. With the recent rebound in the real estate market, and the looming boom in construction you can expect to continue to see strong dividends from this stock. This is another one of those best of breed stocks that does things right.
Although this is one of the stocks that was hit hard during the recession, it’s also one of the ones the came back strong.
At the time of this writing I owned shares in Verizon , Wells Fargo, and Deere.