Many investors are keen on adding dividend stocks to their portfolios as they offer a regular source of income that can increase over time and provide protection against market volatility. The opinions of top analysts could help investors in picking the right dividend stocks. Bearing that in mind, here are five attractive dividend stocks , according to Wall Street’s top experts, as rated by TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance. Diamondback Energy We will first look at Diamondback Energy ( FANG ), an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the exploration of onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. The company has a policy of returning at least 75% of its free cash flow to shareholders through fixed or base dividends, variable dividends, and share buybacks. In the second quarter of 2023, FANG returned $473 million, or about 86% of its free cash flow, through stock repurchases and base dividends. Further, the company increased its base dividend by 5% to 84 cents per share. Considering just the base dividend, FANG offers a dividend yield of 2.3% . Commenting on the dividend hike, RBC Capital analyst Scott Hanold said that Diamondback’s focus on stable operations drove consistent Q2 2023 results, which underpinned its solid free cash flow outlook and gave the company the confidence to raise its base dividend. “FANG has one of the lowest cost structures in the basin and a corporate cash flow break-even (including dividend) that is among the best in the industry,” said Hanold. (See Diamondback’s Financial Statements on TipRanks) Hanold reaffirmed a buy rating on FANG with a price target of $170. Hanold ranks No. 17 among more than 8,500 analysts tracked on TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 67% of the time, with each rating delivering an average return of 24.6%. DHT Holdings DHT Holdings ( DHT ) is an independent crude oil tanker company. As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, DHT had a fleet of 23 very large crude carriers (VLCC). The company has a policy of returning 100% of its net income as quarterly cash dividends. Reacting to DHT’s recently reported Q2 2023 results, Evercore analyst Jonathan Chappell said that earnings per share of 35 cents was exactly in line with his estimate, with the company’s 100% dividend payout ratio resulting in a 35 cents per share distribution for the period. DHT has an attractive dividend yield of 14.4%. In addition to a cash…
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