Top Wall Street analysts favor these five dividend stocks during

The market’s volatility as of late is making dividend-paying stocks seem all the more appealing to investors in search of some stability.

Investors must check the fundamentals of the dividend-paying company and its ability to sustain those payments over the long run before adding the stock to their portfolio.

Bearing that in mind, here are five attractive dividend stocks, according to Wall Street’s top experts on TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.

First on this week’s dividend list is Civitas Resources (CIVI), an oil and gas producer focused on assets in the Denver-Julesburg and Permian Basins. The company paid a dividend of $1.74 per share in late September, which included a quarterly base dividend of 50 cents per share and a variable dividend of $1.24.  

Civitas recently announced an agreement with Vencer Energy to acquire oil-producing assets in the Midland Basin of West Texas for $2.1 billion. The acquisition, anticipated to close in January 2024, is expected to boost CIVI’s free cash flow per share by 5% in 2024.  

Jefferies analyst Lloyd Byrne has a constructive view on the acquisition, as it enhances the company’s scale in the Midland at a relatively low price.

“We believe CIVI acquired one of the few Permian privates remaining that is accretive to asset quality,” said Byrne.

In line with his optimism on the deal, Byrne raised his price target for CIVI to $102 from $100 and reiterated a buy rating, saying that the stock remains cheap given an estimated free cash flow yield of about 23% in 2024.

Byrne ranks No. 64 among more than 8,500 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 62% of the time, with each delivering an average return of 32.1%. (See Civitas’ Stock Charts on TipRanks)  

Next up is biopharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY). In September, the company announced a quarterly dividend of 57 cents per share, payable on Nov. 1. This dividend marks a year-over-year increase of 5.6%. BMY’s dividend yield stands at 4%.

On Oct. 8, BMY announced an agreement to acquire biotechnology company Mirati Therapeutics for a total consideration of up to $5.8 billion. The acquisition is expected to bolster the company’s oncology portfolio and help mitigate the loss of sales…