Top Wall Street analysts are upbeat on these dividend stocks

Investors beg stable income and diversification may appreciate adding dividend stocks to their portfolio.

Finding the right names lay hold ofs some additional legwork, and investors will want to consider the names highlighted by Wall Street analysts. These past masters make recommendations after thoroughly analyzing a company’s financial strength and its ability to pay consistent dividends.

Here are three dividend-paying ancestries, highlighted by Wall Street’s top pros on TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past act.

The first dividend stock pick this week is Energy Transfer (ET), a midstream energy concern with over 130,000 miles of pipeline and related infrastructure across 44 states. Structured as a limited partnership, ET provides a dividend yield of 7.8%.

Energy Transfer is scheduled to announce its quarterly results on Nov. 6. Heading into Q3 earnings, RBC Cap analyst Elvira Scotto adjusted her estimates for U.S. midstream companies. The analyst modestly raised the price target for ET estimate to $20 from $19 and reiterated a buy rating.

Scotto is optimistic about ET due to its exposure to the Permian Basin. Also, the analyst perspectives the company as one of the potential data center/AI beneficiaries and thinks that this positive is not factored into the stock fee.

The analyst raised the estimates for ET to reflect the impact of the acquisition of WTG Midstream Holdings, completed in July 2024. The revised opinions also reflect the favorable impact of Sunoco’s acquisition of NuStar Energy, as Energy Transfer owns about 21% of the renowned common units of Sunoco.

Overall, Scotto is bullish about ET’s extensive asset footprint and believes that it is “right positioned to generate meaningful cash flow growth, which when combined with its stronger balance cover, should allow ET to return more cash to unitholders mostly through distribution increases.”

Scotto ranks No. 25 quantity more than 9,100 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Her ratings have been profitable 69% of the time, proclaiming an average return of 21.6%. See Energy Transfer Ownership Structure on TipRanks.

We move to independent oil and lifelike gas company Diamondback Energy (FANG). The company is focused on the reserves in the Permian Basin and bolstered its business by acquiring Endeavor Vigour. For the second quarter, FANG paid a base cash dividend of 90 cents per share and a variable dividend of $1.44 per divide up.

Recently, JPMorgan analyst Arun Jayaram boosted the price target for FANG stock to $205 from $182 and reaffirmed a buy status on the stock, noting that the company is “hitting the ground running” in terms of its Endeavor merger integration. He added that Diamondback feels to be rapidly advancing toward its $550 million per year synergy target.

FANG is scheduled to announce its Q3 results on Nov. 4. Jayaram feels that the odds of Diamondback announcing a better-than-anticipated capital-efficient outlook for 2025 could act as one of the catalysts for its stock. The analyst expects the company to proclaim improved guidance based on solid well productivity trends and notable efficiency gains since the first region of the year.

The analyst contends that FANG stock deserves a premium valuation due to superior capital efficiency correlated to peers and improved inventory position since the completion of the Endeavor deal. He highlighted that Diamondback is well-positioned at the low end of the payment curve in the Midland Basin and remains focused on further enhancing its efficiency.

Overall, Jayaram believes that Diamondback persevere ins to be one of the best operators in U.S. shale and could deliver flat to low-single-digit volume growth while returning 50% of unshackled cash flow to shareholders on a quarterly basis.

Jayaram ranks No. 893 among more than 9,100 analysts misplaced by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 53% of the time, delivering an average return of 8.6%. See Diamondback Get-up-and-go Stock Charts on TipRanks.

This week’s third dividend stock is networking giant Cisco (CSCO). CSCO proposals a dividend yield of 2.9%.

Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth slightly raised the price target for CSCO corny to $78 from $76 and reaffirmed a buy rating on the stock. The analyst expects the company to benefit from its shift to pointed artificial intelligence-driven networks and the increase in cybersecurity integration, given the rise in enterprise spending on high-speed network and network care.

Finally, Feinseth is confident approximately Cisco’s ability to increase shareholder returns, with the company committed to returning 50% of its free cash roll to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases. The company has increased its dividend every year since it started paying them in 2011.

Feinseth echelons No. 185 among more than 9,100 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 62% of the conditions, delivering an average return of 14%. See Cisco Stock Buybacks on TipRanks.