To find the year’s 10 best-performing income-focused stocks, we screened the Morningstar Eurozone Index—which measures the performance of the eurozone’s broad regional markets, targeting the top 97% of stocks by market capitalization—for companies with a forward dividend yield of at least 1.5%, excluding real estate investment trusts.

The Best-Performing Eurozone Dividend Stocks of 2024

1. Unipol Gruppo UNI
2. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena BMPS
3. Esso ES
4. BPER Banca BPE
5. Titan Cement International TITC
6. Banco BPM BAMI
7. Bawag BG
8. Banco Sabadell SAB
9. Maire Tecnimont MAIRE
10. ANIMA ANIM

Best-Performing Dividend Stocks in the Eurozone

Source: Morningstar Direct.

How Have Dividend Stocks Performed?

The Morningstar Eurozone Dividend Yield Focus Index, which tracks the performance of high-quality, dividend-paying stocks listed in Europe, fell 3.0% over the past month, but has risen 7.4% over the past year.

1-Year Performance for Dividend Stocks

Source: Morningstar Direct.

The overall eurozone stock market, as measured by the Morningstar Eurozone Index, has lost 2.0% on the month, but has risen 9.9% on the year.

Yields and Metrics for 2024’s Best-Performing Dividend Stocks

Unipol Gruppo

Italian diversified insurance firm Unipol rose 140.4% in 2024 and gained 39.9% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. Trading at EUR 11.89 per share, its stock has a forward dividend yield of 3.2%. Unipol Gruppo pays investors a trailing 12-month dividend of EUR 0.38 per share. The stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena

Italian regional bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena rose 131.6% in 2024 and lost 27.6% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. At EUR 6.71 per share, its stock has a forward dividend yield of 3.73% and a trailing 12-month dividend of EUR 0.25 per share. It has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Esso

French oil and gas company Esso gained 125.0% in 2024 and rose 106.2% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. The stock’s EUR 116.20 price gives it a forward dividend yield of 2.58%. Esso pays investors a trailing 12-month dividend of EUR 2 per share. The stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

BPER Banca

Italian bank BPER Banca rose 112.6% in 2024 and gained 53.7% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. Trading at EUR 5.96 per share, BPER Banca stock has a forward dividend yield of 5.04% and a trailing 12-month dividend of EUR 0.30 per share. It has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Titan Cement International

Belgian building materials firm Titan Cement International gained 91.8% in 2024 and rose 46.7% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. Trading at EUR 39.70 per share, its forward dividend yield is 2.14%. Titan Cement International pays investors a trailing 12-month dividend of EUR 0.85 per share. It has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 2 stars.

Banco BPM

Italian regional bank Banco BPM gained 83.5% in 2024 and rose 51.6% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. At EUR 7.77 per share, Banco BPM stock has a forward dividend yield of 12.36% and a trailing 12-month dividend of EUR 0.56 per share. It has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 4 stars.

Bawag

Austrian bank Bawag rose 79.6% in 2024 and gained 19.7% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. Trading at EUR 80.10 per share, Bawag stock has a forward dividend yield of 6.25% and a trailing 12-month dividend of EUR 5 per share. It has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Banco Sabadell

Spanish bank Banco Sabadell rose 78.5% in 2024 and gained 52.2% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. Trading at EUR 1.86 per share, Banco Sabadell stock has a forward dividend yield of 8.6% and pays investors a trailing 12-month dividend of EUR 0.14 per share. The stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Maire Tecnimont

Italian engineering and construction company Maire Tecnimont gained 72.2% in 2024 and rose 28.2% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. The stock’s EUR 8.41 price gives it a forward dividend yield of 2.34%. Maire Tecnimont pays investors a trailing 12-month dividend of EUR 0.20 per share. The stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 1 star.

ANIMA

Italian asset management firm ANIMA rose 71.7% in 2024 and gained 17.6% over the past three years, on an annualized basis. At EUR 6.69 per share, ANIMA has a forward dividend yield of 3.74% and a trailing 12-month dividend of EUR 0.25 per share. It has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

What Is the Morningstar Eurozone Index?

The Morningstar Eurozone Index measures the performance of the eurozone’s broad regional markets, targeting the top 97% of stocks by market capitalisation. The index does not incorporate environmental, social, or governance criteria.

What Is the Morningstar Eurozone Dividend Yield Focus Index?

The Morningstar Eurozone Dividend Yield Focus Index captures the performance of a portfolio of high-quality, dividend-paying securities.

It’s a subset of the Morningstar Eurozone index (which represents 97% of the equity market capitalization that includes only stocks that pay dividends. The stocks are screened for economic moat and financial strength compared to others in their sector. Real estate investment trusts are excluded.

From there, the 25 highest-yielding stocks are included in the index, weighted by the dollar value of the dividends. See the full rulebook here.

The Best Dividend Stock Leaders: More Ideas to Consider

Investors who would like to uncover more top-performing or cheap dividend stocks to research further can do the following:

• Review the full list of Dividend stocks included in the Morningstar Eurozone Dividend Yield Focus index. Those dividend stocks with Morningstar Ratings of 4 or 5 stars are undervalued, according to our metrics.
• Read our monthly analysis of the latest dividend moves among the top FTSE 100 dividend payers.
• Use our Morningstar Screener tool to find the best dividend stocks according to your specific criteria. You can search for stocks based on their dividend yields, valuation measures such as price/earnings, and more.
• Use Morningstar Portfolio Manager to build a watchlist of the best dividend stocks and create a view that allows you to easily follow the valuations, ratings, and dividend yields of the stocks in your list.
• When it comes to buying stocks, it’s more than just dividends. Read here how valuations and competitive advantages—known as economic moats—matter when it comes to a stock’s potential for outperformance.
• Read Morningstar’s Guide to Stock Investing to learn how our approach to investing can inform your stock-picking process.

Companies that are not formally covered by a Morningstar analyst are statistically matched to analyst-rated companies, allowing our models to calculate a quantitative star rating.

This article was compiled by Bella Albrecht, edited by Lauren Solberg, and reviewed by Sunniva Kolostyak.

This article was generated with the help of automation and reviewed by Morningstar editors. Learn more about Morningstar’s use of automation.

The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar’s editorial policies.