Investors love dividend stocks. Not only do they provide dependable income, but they also give investors a great opportunity for solid total return. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends and distributions realized over a given period. In other words, the total return on an investment or a portfolio includes both dividend income and stock appreciation.
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We screened our 24/7 Wall St. research database looking for stock of S&P 500 companies that were rated Buy at major Wall Street firms and also had among the highest dividends in the venerable index. In addition, we focused on five that are very timely stocks to own for the balance of the first quarter and the rest of 2022.

It is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Altria

This maker of tobacco products offers value investors a great entry point now and was hit as cigarette sales have slowed. Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is the parent company of Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), UST (smokeless), John Middleton (cigars), Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Philip Morris Capital. PMUSA enjoys a 51% share of the U.S. cigarette market, led by its top cigarette brand Marlboro.

Altria also owns over 10% of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer. In March 2008, it spun off its international cigarette business to shareholders. In December 2018, the company acquired 35% of Juul Labs, and it has purchased a 45% stake in cannabis company Cronus for $1.8 billion.

The company also is rolling out its own heated and vapor products, such as Marlboro HeatSticks and IQOS, both of which are slowly being expanded across the United States.

The company has increased its dividend for over 50 consecutive years, and shareholders now receive a 6.93% dividend. Jefferies team has a $58 target on Altria stock, and the consensus price target of analysts is $54.08. Shares retreated almost 5% on Thursday to close at $49.57, despite recent positive news.

IBM

This blue-chip giant still offers investors a very solid entry point. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is a leading provider of enterprise solutions, offering a broad portfolio of information technology (IT) hardware, business and IT services, and a full suite of software solutions. The company integrates its hardware products with its software and services offerings in order to provide high-value solutions.
The company integrates its hardware products with its software and services offerings to provide high-value solutions. Analysts have cited the company’s potential in the public cloud as a reason for their positive outlook going forward.

The company posted a very solid fourth quarter. The cloud proved to be big in the earnings reports, as did Red Hat, the software giant the firm bought in 2019. Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud technologies are now paired with the unmatched scale and depth of IBM’s innovation and industry expertise and sales leadership in more than 175 countries.
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IBM stock investors receive a 5.37% dividend. The Jefferies price objective of $165 is well above the $143.47 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $121.97

Iron Mountain

This company is somewhat of a surprise, given the strength of the sector. Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE: IRM) is the global leader in secure storage and information management services. Trusted by more than 225,000 organizations around the world, and with a real estate network of more than 90 million square feet across approximately 1,450 facilities in approximately 50 countries, Iron Mountain stores and protects billions of valued assets, including critical business information, highly sensitive data and cultural and historical artifacts.

Its solutions include secure records storage, information management, digital transformation and secure destruction, as well as data centers, cloud services and art storage and logistics. Iron Mountain helps customers lower cost and risk, comply with regulations, recover from disaster and enable a more digital way of working.

Iron Mountain generates more than $4.2 billion in revenue and has a durable business model. Recent acquisitions position the company for growth in data centers and emerging markets.

This real estate investment trust pays a 5.86% distribution. The $56 Goldman Sachs price target compares with a $43.75 consensus estimate for Iron Mountain stock. Thursday’s close at $45.43 a share was up almost 8% for the day.

Kinder Morgan

This top energy stock remains a favorite across Wall Street. Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. The company operates through the following segments.
The Natural Gas Pipelines segment owns and operates interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines and underground storage systems; natural gas gathering systems and natural gas processing and treating facilities; natural gas liquids (NGLs) fractionation facilities and transportation systems; and liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction and storage facilities.

The Products Pipelines segment owns and operates refined petroleum products and crude oil and condensate pipelines, as well as associated product terminals and petroleum pipeline transmix facilities.
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The Terminals segment owns or operates liquids and bulk terminals that store and handle various commodities, including gasoline, diesel fuel, chemicals, ethanol, metals and petroleum coke. It also owns tankers.

The CO2 segment produces, transports and markets CO2 to recover and produce crude oil from mature oil fields, and it owns interests in or operates oil fields and gasoline processing plants, as well as operates a crude oil pipeline system in West Texas. It owns and operates approximately 83,000 miles of pipelines and 144 terminals.

Shareholders receive a 6.44% dividend. Mizuho has set a $21 price objective, while the consensus target is $19.12. Kinder Morgan stock closed at $16.67 per share on Thursday.

Vornado Realty Trust

Sporting a sizable dividend and offering investors a great inflation-hedging real estate play, this top stock is an incredible buy now. The Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) portfolio is concentrated in the nation’s key market New York City, along with additional premier assets in both Chicago and San Francisco.

Last week the company posted strong results and beat the Wall Street estimates for the quarter, as signage and building services income improved from depressed levels in recent quarters. Madison Square Gardens’ 428,000 square foot renewal at the PENN2 redevelopment drove strong leasing spreads. Occupancy and same-store net operating income also improved as well.

Investors receive a 5.07% distribution. The target price on Vornado Realty Trust stock at Truist Securities is $46. The consensus target is $45.55, and shares closed most recently at $42.35 apiece.

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These five companies have incredible cash flow and their shares are trading well below their 52-week highs. They all are well positioned for this year and beyond. Plus adding energy, defensive consumer products, real estate and cheap technology makes sense with a market that has been very volatile and could trade back to the downside at a moment’s notice.

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