At the moment, several stocks with enticing dividends are standing out among the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) list.
With representation from various sectors, these highly ranked stocks look poised for more upside going into 2025 which magnifies their generous dividend yields.
Starting in the transportation sector, Euroseas ESEA is making the case for being vastly undervalued as an operator of vessels in the dry bulk and container shipping markets.
Near 52-week lows at around $33 a share, ESEA trades at just 2.2X forward earnings with fiscal 2024 EPS now expected at a whopping $15.24 per share. More reassuring and suggesting a rebound is in store despite the cyclicality of the transportation industry is that FY24 and FY25 EPS estimates are nicely up in the last 60 days.
Plus, ESEA has a 6.91% annual dividend yield which towers over the benchmark S&P 500’s 1.2% average and edges its Zacks Transportation-Shipping Industry average of 4.65%.
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Next up is Janus Henderson Group JHG, a standout in the financial sector. Trading near its 52-week highs at around $42 a share, Janus Henderson’s expansion as a financial investment management firm is hard to overlook, especially with a 3.62% annual dividend.
Topping the benchmark’s payout, Janus Henderson’s dividend impressively tops its Zacks Financial-Investment Management Industry average of 1.86% as well.
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Rising over +40% year to date, JHG still trades at a very reasonable 12.5X forward earnings multiple. Correlating with its strong price performance, Janus Henderson is expected to post double-digit top and bottom line growth in fiscal 2024 and FY25.
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We’ll round out the list in the oils and energy sector with National Fuel Gas Company NFG. As an integrated energy company with natural gas assets in the prolific Appalachian basin, NFG trades under 10X forward earnings.
This comes as NFG’s EPS is slated to spike 22% in its current FY25 to $6.11 versus $5.01 per share in FY24. Better still, FY26 EPS is expected to rise another 11%.
Trading near its 52-week peak at over $60, what should keep investors engaged is that NFG is a dividend king, increasing its dividend for more than 50 consecutive years. More intriguing is that the company’s 41% payout ratio suggests there is plenty of room to increase its payout in the future with NFG having a current yield of 3.41%.
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