With the first half of 2025 wrapped up, now feels like as good a time as any to check in with the top-performing dividend plays and see how the stage is set for the rest of the year. Undoubtedly, chasing the best performers is no way to score market-beating results moving forward. But if recent momentum is well-supported by improved fundamentals, growth and the price of admission is still reasonable, there may still be an opportunity for further gains. In any case, let’s check in on three blue-chip year-to-date gainers that are, at the very least, worth keeping tabs on as they look to keep the good times going.
Key Points in This Article:
- Halfway through 2025, these three stocks can still serve as the foundation of an income portfolio.
- Dividend yield aside, these blue chips posted market-beating gains in the first half of the year.
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1. CVS Health
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS | CVS Price Prediction) is back in a big way after gaining 56% in the first half, recovering much of the ground lost in 2024. While the company is, by no means, in the clear. Investors now have plenty to be optimistic about for a change as the company looks to keep the good times going into year’s end. Undoubtedly, the company’s first-quarter earnings beat (it was quite the blockbuster report) and surprising guidance upgrade have paved the way for a flood of Wall Street analyst upgrades in recent months. TD Cowen has a lofty $95 per-share price target (implies over 40% in total returns) on the stock, citing it as one of its best ideas for 2025.
With expectations of double-digit EPS growth and a still-modest 16.5 times trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, the 3.86%-yielder certainly stands out as one of those 2025 top performers that still has more in the way of performance up its sleeve. Indeed, it’ll be tough to top the first quarter blowout, but now that things are going right for a change, I wouldn’t count the healthcare company out now that much of the worst seems to be in the rearview. With a 0.56 beta, the stock may continue higher, even if the S&P 500 looks to consolidate after its robust V-shaped bounce.
2. Hasbro
Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) is another dividend gainer that’s worth checking out ahead of the holiday season. The toymaker sports a nice 3.83% dividend yield and goes for a modest 18.12 times forward P/E at the time of writing. With the firm reducing its workforce by 3% while making “rapid changes” to diversify its supply chain to dampen the blow of President Trump’s tariffs on China, perhaps investors were wrong to punish the already beaten-down toymaker so severely during the Liberation Day selling spree.
In any case, I’m a big fan of how management is handling the situation and think the firm could beat full-year sales estimates despite tariffs, as the firm looks to ready its slate of products before a holiday season that I think could be far better than feared.
Who knows? Maybe much of the tariffs will be trimmed or taken off the table entirely by the time the holiday season decorations start going up. Like CVS, Hasbro sports a 0.56 beta, meaning shares are less likely to be influenced by moves made in the S&P.
3. AT&T
AT&T (NYSE:T) is a telecom titan that’s successfully adapted amid rising industry competition and headwinds. Year to date, the stock is up 26.8%, and while the momentum has ground to a halt since March, I do think that all it’ll take is a sound quarter to spark the next leg higher. After all, the longer the base, the higher in space! With AT&T shares earning a spot on Goldman’s “Conviction List,” T stock seems poised for another strong 18 months.
Goldman analyst Jim Schneider is bullish over the company’s “fiber-to-the-home investment strategy” and its ability to “drive accelerating broadband revenue growth.” I couldn’t agree more. AT&T has more timely catalysts that could propel its stock in the second half and beyond. At 13.7 times forward P/E, the 3.95%-yielder seems way too cheap for income investors who also want a side of capital gains.
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