We lately compiled a listing of the 14 Best Performing Dividend Stocks To Buy Now.On this article, we’re going to check out the place Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) stands in opposition to the opposite dividend shares.
Dividend shares have taken a backseat available in the market as know-how and AI-driven equities have soared to file highs. Nevertheless, analysts at Ned Davis Analysis consider {that a} tougher macroeconomic panorama this 12 months might create alternatives for dividend shares to regain momentum.
Amid issues about financial progress and uncertainty surrounding former President Trump’s tariff insurance policies, buyers have been turning to defensive methods. On this setting, dividend shares have confirmed resilient, providing each stability and enticing passive earnings. The Dividend Aristocrat index, which tracks firms with a historical past of no less than 25 years of constant dividend progress, has climbed by over 5.3% in 2025. In distinction, the broader market has declined by practically 1.7%, as of the shut of March 7.
Whereas analysts stay cautious concerning the market’s capability to maintain its latest positive aspects, dividend shares have more and more drawn their consideration for a number of causes. In keeping with Ameriprise Monetary, the S&P index is broadly considered one of the vital important benchmarks for international fairness markets. Over the previous decade, dividend progress and share buybacks have change into defining traits of the index, which incorporates quite a few international dividend-paying firms. Dividend progress noticed a pointy slowdown within the ultimate quarter of 2024, largely attributed to the election and uncertainty surrounding potential coverage modifications. With these issues now prior to now, Ameriprise Monetary expects a resurgence in dividend progress throughout the broader market. For 2025, projections point out a possible 8% improve in dividend payouts, following progress charges of 6% in 2024 and 5% in 2023.
The report additional talked about that The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 additionally performed a big function in boosting dividends and share buybacks in 2018. By decreasing the company federal tax price from 35% to 21%, the laws contributed to a surge in shareholder returns, with buybacks and dividend payouts reaching multi-year highs the next 12 months. Because the TCJA approaches its expiration in 2025, discussions round company tax reductions have resurfaced. Whereas the proposed lower from 21% to fifteen% will not be as substantial because the earlier reduce, it might nonetheless present an upside for shareholder returns throughout the broader market as soon as a ultimate determination is reached.
Firms with a historical past of standard dividend funds are typically seen as secure investments, reflecting their robust money move and monetary resilience. These companies are sometimes present in defensive sectors akin to shopper staples, utilities, and healthcare, which are usually much less affected by financial fluctuations. Because of this, they assist buyers handle portfolio dangers extra successfully. At the start of 2025, rising issues over rising inflation and sluggish financial progress led buyers to extend their publicity to defensive shares. This shift in technique was meant to guard portfolios from potential market volatility linked to those financial uncertainties.
Ned Davis’s Clissold and his crew shared their perspective on the scenario:
“One would anticipate that firms that pay dividends are extra secure and have decrease progress charges. Because of this, they need to rally much less in up markets and decline much less in down markets. In different phrases, they’ve decrease betas than non-dividend-payers. … As a bunch, dividend-payers have a beta of 0.99 versus 1.11 for nonpayers.”
For this text, we scanned the checklist of firms which have delivered optimistic returns in 2025. From that group, we recognized dividend firms with robust dividend insurance policies and secure money positions. We started with a pool of fifty firms, narrowed it down by contemplating their share value will increase, and finally chosen the highest 14 dividend shares with the very best share value positive aspects as of March 7, arranging them in ascending order of efficiency.
At Insider Monkey, we’re obsessive about hedge funds. Why are we within the shares that hedge funds pile into? The reason being easy: our analysis has proven that we are able to outperform the market by imitating the highest inventory picks of the very best hedge funds. Our quarterly e-newsletter’s technique selects 14 small-cap and large-cap shares each quarter and has returned 373.4% since Might 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 proportion factors (see more details here).
Is Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) The Greatest Low-cost Dividend Inventory To Purchase Proper Now?
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Yr-to-Date Return as of March 7: 13.84%
An American multinational telecommunications firm, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) ranks ninth on our checklist of the very best performing shares that pay dividends. The corporate is at present advancing its “AI Join” initiative, which provides the required infrastructure and connectivity options for companies to deploy and handle AI workloads. This effort is aimed toward capitalizing on the increasing AI infrastructure market, which is predicted to draw over $1 trillion in investments over the subsequent decade. The initiative leverages the corporate’s current fiber community and edge computing capabilities. As of the fourth quarter of 2024, it had already secured a $1 billion deal pipeline, with main gamers like Google and Meta using Verizon Communications Inc.’s (NYSE:VZ) community for AI workloads.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) delivered strong fourth-quarter ends in 2024, posting $35.7 billion in income, a 1.6% year-over-year improve. Progress was fueled by increased buyer additions throughout each cell wi-fi and web companies. Within the cell wi-fi section, internet postpaid telephone subscriber additions reached 568,000, up from 449,000 in the identical interval final 12 months. Income from this section grew 3.1% year-over-year to $20 billion, marking its 18th consecutive quarter of enlargement.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) has garnered investor curiosity attributable to its robust money move and give attention to innovation. In fiscal 2024, the corporate reported $37 billion in working money move, whereas free money move elevated to $19.8 billion from $18.7 billion within the prior 12 months. It provides a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.88%, as recorded on March 7. VZ’s dividend progress streak at present spans over 18 years.
Total VZ ranks ninth on our checklist of the very best performing dividend shares to purchase now. Whereas we acknowledge the potential for VZ as an funding, our conviction lies within the perception that some AI shares maintain higher promise for delivering increased returns and doing so inside a shorter timeframe. In case you are searching for an AI inventory that’s extra promising than VZ however that trades at lower than 5 instances its earnings, try our report concerning the cheapest AI stock.
