We have come a long way since the onset of the pandemic. The initial period, when there were no vaccines, saw an environment of heightened uncertainties. The commodity’s price plunged to a negative $36.98 per barrel on Apr 20, 2020.

However, with the rapid developments of vaccines by scientists, which led to the gradual opening of the economies, the pricing scenario of West Texas Intermediate crude improved drastically over time to reach $123.64 per barrel on Mar 8, 2022. Oil price data are per the U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) and the commodity is currently trading at more than $80 per barrel.

Per the latest short-term energy outlook of EIA, the West Texas Intermediate Spot Average price and Henry Hub spot average price will continue to improve in the second half of this year, brightening the outlook for oil and gas exploration and production companies. This has also increased the demand for natural gas compression services.

Amid the backdrop, we have employed our proprietary stock screener to zero in on three stocks that not only witnessed a massive gain since the pandemic era (since March-end, 2020) but are also paying a handsome dividend yield, at least higher than the 3.6% yield of the composite stocks belonging to the energy sector.

Two of the stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while the other carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

3 Stocks in The Spotlight

A continuation of strong market demand for compression services is aiding USA Compression Partners LP USAC since it is among the leaders in providing natural gas compression services in the country. USA Compression Partners’ stable cashflows are backed by rising producer volumes and its credit-worthy customer base. USAC, with a Zacks Rank of 1, offers a dividend yield of 9.7% and has soared a whopping 336% since end of first-quarter 2020. (Check USA Compression’s dividend history here).

Sunoco LP SUN, the largest independent fuel distributor in the United States,has a stable business model and has relatively lower exposure to commodity price volatility. This is because it distributes fuel to branded distributors under long-term contracts. Zacks #2 Ranked Sunoco currently has a 7.4% dividend yield and has skyrocketed more than 200% since the end of the first quarter of 2020. (Check Sunoco’s dividend history here).

Having direct access to prolific crude oil fields in the Anadarko and Arkoma Basins, leading petroleum refiner CVR Energy Inc CVI is well-poised to grow. #1 Ranked CVI is leveraging its strong refining fundamentals, driving its cashflows and earnings momentum. Currently, the stock offers a dividend yield of 6.1% and has jumped more than 105% since March-end 2020. (Check CVR Energy’s dividend history here).
Sunoco LP (SUN): Free Stock Analysis Report

CVR Energy Inc. (CVI): Free Stock Analysis Report

USA Compression Partners, LP (USAC): Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research

This article originally appeared on Zacks

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.