Investing

Jefferies Top 2025 Stock Picks Include 5 Sizzling Large Cap Dividend Blue Chips

Lee Jackson

Published: January 3, 2025 4:05 pm

Last Updated: January 3, 2025 5:59 pm

As the calendar turns over to 2025, the leading Wall Street firms are releasing their top stock picks for the new year. Typically, these are companies that analysts have an incredible conviction for. In addition, they often have good upside to the assigned price target and are bestowed with either a Buy or Overweight rating, depending on the company providing the coverage. At 24/7 Wall St., we like to cover these top stocks and then screen the companies, looking for those paying the highest dividends to investors. This can increase the total return potential for investors.

24/7 Wall St. Key Points:

• After another strong year in 2024, many on Wall Street see a slower 2025
• Investors  likely will gravitate to large-cap blue chip sector leaders
• Blue chip dividend stocks typically are far less volatile
• Do you have the proper large-cap blue chips in your portfolio? Meeting with a financial advisor near you should be a top priority for 2025. Click here to get started.

With all of the major indices making parabolic moves higher in 2024, we were very interested to see what the top prognosticators across Wall Street think is in store for 2025 as we start the second quarter of the new century. Not surprisingly, many of the firms that we cover are very positive going forward, despite some trepidation after the big moves higher.

We screened the 57 top stocks for 2025 from Jefferies, a top Wall Street firm, and found five companies that are our favorite 2025 picks and pay stellar dividends. All are rated Buy.

ConocoPhillips

This is a large-cap company that offers substantial value for investors and a solid 3.15% dividend. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and natural gas liquids worldwide.

Conoco’s portfolio are:

• Resource-rich North American tight oil and oil sands assets
• Lower-risk legacy assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia
• Various international developments and an inventory of conventional and unconventional exploration prospects

In November, the company completed its massive $22.5 billion purchase of Marathon Oil. In accordance with the merger agreement, each share of Marathon Oil common stock was converted into the right to receive 0.255 shares of ConocoPhillips common stock at the effective time of the merger, with cash in lieu of fractional shares.

Many Wall Street analysts, including the Jefferies team, feel Conoco can accelerate growth from a reloaded portfolio depth in the Bakken and Eagle Ford with visibility on future growth. They noted this in their report.

ConocoPhillips has high-quality assets with duration and scale in a diversified portfolio across major basins. Furthermore, several long-cycle growth projects should boost production and earnings-per-share when they come online in 2026 and beyond.

Jefferies has a whopping $146 price target for the integrated energy giant.

Gilead Sciences

This biotech giant pays a solid 3.27% dividend and offers outstanding total return potential in 2025. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines for unmet medical needs in the United States, Europe, and internationally.

The company provides Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Truvada, Complera/ Eviplera, Stribild, Sunlencs, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, intravenous injection for the treatment of COVID-19; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis.

It also offers Yescarta, Tecartus, and Trodelvy products for oncology treatment; Letairis, an oral formulation for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension; and AmBisome, a liposomal formulation for treating serious invasive fungal infections.

Gilead Sciences has collaboration agreements with:

• Arcus Biosciences, Inc.
• Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
• Pionyr Immunotherapeutics Inc.
• Tizona Therapeutics, Inc.
• Galapagos NV
• Janssen Sciences Ireland Unlimited Company
• Japan Tobacco, Inc.
• Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc.
• Arcellx, Inc.
• Everest Medicines
• Merck & Co, Inc.
• Tentarix Biotherapeutics Inc.
• Marengo Therapeutics
• Assembly Biosciences, Inc.

It also has research collaboration, option, and license agreement with Merus N.V. to discover novel dual tumor-associated antigens (TAA) targeting tri-specific antibodies.

The Jefferies team has a $115 target price and said this in their report:

Gilead’s HIV prevention asset, PrEP, could launch as soon as summer 2025 with a total addressable market of $2-5 billion. Doctors should be more inclined to prescribe the long-acting injectable without the administrative burden of the buy & bill process (white bagging expected to be ~70-80% of reimbursements).

Kenvue

Spun off from Johnson & Johnson, Inc. (NYSE: JNJ) in 2023, this potential total return home run pays a solid 3.81% dividend. Kenvue Inc. (NYSE: KVUE) is a global consumer health company.

The company operates through three segments:

• Self Care
• Skin Health and Beauty
• Essential Health

The self-care segment offers cough, cold, and allergy pain care, digestive health, smoking cessation, and other products under:

• Tylenol
• Nicorette
• Zyrtec brands.

The Skin Health and Beauty segment provides face and body care, hair care, sun care, and other products under:

• Neutrogena
• Aveeno
• OGX brand names

The Essential Health segment offers oral and baby, women’s health, and wound care products under:

• Listerine
• Johnson’s
• Band-Aid
• Stayfree brands

The Jefferies price target for the shares is set at $27, and they said this about the company:

Improving Neutrogena (skincare) has been a focal point of Kenvue’s growth transformation, but Listerine (oral care) presents another shot at goal. The analysts 2026 earnings-per-share estimate is ahead of the Street.

McDonald’s

The legacy fast-food heavyweight is a solid pick when the economy goes south or north, is among the safest large-cap restaurant ideas, and pays a 2.41% dividend. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) operates and franchises McDonald’s restaurants in the United States and internationally. Ninety-five percent of McDonald’s approximately 13,500 U.S. restaurants are owned and used by independent business owners.

The company’s restaurants offer:

• Hamburgers and cheeseburgers
• Chicken sandwiches and nuggets
• Fries
• Salads
• Shakes
• Frozen desserts
• Sundaes
• Soft serve cones
• Bakery items
• Soft drinks
• Coffee
• Muffins
• Sausages
• Biscuit and bagel sandwiches
• Oatmeal
• Hash browns
• Breakfast burritos
• Hotcakes

The Jefferies price target for the fast-food behemoth is a hefty $345, and they noted this:

McDonald’s is well positioned to drive same-store sales share gains amid a soft traffic environment for quick-service restaurants supported by momentum in value offerings, loyalty, and marketing. The analyst covering the company thinks modestly lower G&A and higher-than-expected unit growth will drive EPS beats versus consensus in 2025 and 2026.

The Toronto-Dominion Bank

With a strong 5.18% dividend and a leading financial presence across Canada and the U.S., Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD) is an excellent pick for growth and income investors. Its subsidiaries provide various financial products and services in Canada, the United States, and internationally.

It operates through four segments:

• Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking
• U.S. Retail
• Wealth Management and Insurance
• Wholesale Banking.

The company offers personal deposits, such as:

• Checking, savings, and investment products
• Financing, investment, cash management, international trade
• Day-to-day banking services to businesses
• Financing options to customers at the point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases

It also provides:

• Credit cards and payments
• Real estate-secured lending
• Auto Finance
• Consumer lending services
• Point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses
• Wealth and asset management products and advice to retail and institutional clients through direct investing, advice-based, and asset management businesses
• Property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products

The Toronto-Dominion Bank also provides capital markets and corporate and investment banking products and services, including underwriting and distributing new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to corporations, governments, and institutions.

The Jefferies price target is $90 Canadian, which translates to $62.45 in U.S. dollars. The research on the bank noted this.

The CEO transition in April will give the bank a clean slate, and the subsequent release of a revised strategy should provide a catalyst for multiple recovery. Consensus earnings imply no growth in 2025, but the analyst believes the stage is being set for a better second-half 2025 performance.