Not all dividend stocks are in the same league. Some offer puny yields. Others, though, provide exceptionally high ones plus solid long-term growth prospects.
Three Motley Fool contributors think they’ve identified stocks that belong squarely in the latter group. Here’s why they view drugmakers AbbVie (ABBV -1.28%), Novartis (NVS -1.40%), and Pfizer (PFE 2.49%) as spectacular high-yield dividend stocks to buy in November.
Raring for a rebound
Keith Speights (AbbVie): You might wonder whether “spectacular” is an adjective that should be used with AbbVie after a brief glance at its third-quarter results. The big drugmaker’s revenue fell 6% year over year to $13.9 billion. Its adjusted earnings per share sank 19.4% to $2.95. Overall, 2023 hasn’t been a great year for the company with its share price down more than 10%.
I think, though, that AbbVie is raring for a rebound. Yes, the company’s top-selling drug, Humira, continues to hemorrhage sales as it faces competition from biosimilars. However, sales for AbbVie’s other drugs are growing faster than expected. CEO Rick Gonzalez even noted in the company’s Q3 earnings call that the double-digit revenue growth for AbbVie’s products, excluding Humira, represented “a considerable acceleration from the first half of the year.”
Two products in AbbVie’s lineup especially stand out. Sales for Rinvoq and Skyrizi soared more than 50% year over year in the third quarter. AbbVie projects that combined sales for the two drugs will eventually surpass Humira’s peak annual sales. The company is also seeing strong sales momentum for its migraine therapies Ubrelvy and Qulipta and antipsychotic medication Vraylar.
Gonzalez predicted that AbbVie will “return to rapid growth in 2025.” That might seem like a long way away. It’s important to remember, though, that investors tend to be forward-looking. I expect AbbVie’s share price will mount a comeback well before its overall sales begin to pick up momentum.
In the meantime, the stock is an income investor’s dream. AbbVie’s dividend yield stands at nearly 4.4%. The company is a Dividend King, recently announcing its 52nd consecutive year of dividend increases, including its time as part of Abbott Laboratories. Since spinning off from Abbott in 2013, AbbVie has boosted its dividend payout by more than 285%.
The new look won’t change old habits
Prosper Junior Bakiny (Novartis): Novartis recently completed a business move that is increasingly becoming popular among pharmaceutical giants. The company spun off its generic and biosimilar unit, Sandoz, into a stand-alone entity. The transaction should allow Novartis to deliver stronger revenue growth while focusing on its core pharmaceutical business, which is already pretty impressive.
Novartis boasts a long lineup of products across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular, and more. The pipeline is equally impressive; the company has over 100 programs in the works. Consistent revenue, earnings, and cash flow — that’s what Novartis can deliver, and it is precisely what dividend investors are looking for now.
Only a stable corporation that routinely produces solid financial results has what it takes to maintain — or even raise — its dividend payouts year in and year out. Novartis has been doing that for a long time, and the recent business separation with Sandoz won’t change a thing. The drugmaker is currently on its 26th consecutive year of dividend increases.
Novartis’ yield is also impressive at 3.74% — the average for the S&P 500 is less than half that at 1.62%. Further, the company’s dividend payout ratio is at about 55%, a number that leaves enough room for more dividend hikes. A high yield isn’t everything, but investors looking for one can certainly find what they are searching for in Novartis — and then some.
The drugmaker’s solid dividend profile and robust underlying business make it an excellent pick for income-seeking investors.
A beaten-down stock, but don’t count it out
David Jagielski (Pfizer): Investors can score a great dividend with Pfizer. Although its operations are slowing down due to a decline in demand for its COVID-19 vaccine and pill, it can still make for a potentially great income investment. With the stock down more than 40% this year, investors appear overly concerned about the company’s growth prospects. But with the decline, the stock is now yielding 5.4%, a much higher yield than usual for the healthcare stock.
The company released its latest earnings numbers on Oct. 31. For the most recent period, which ended in September, Pfizer’s sales fell by 42% year over year to $13.2 billion. However, the company notes that its non-COVID products generated positive operational growth of 10%. Pfizer, unfortunately, had more bad news as it also wrote down inventory and incurred one-time charges related to its COVID-19 vaccine and pill, which led to the company incurring a loss per share of $0.42 for the period.
But in the long run, this can be a solid dividend stock to own. Last month, the company declared its 340th consecutive quarterly dividend, which equates to 85 years’ worth of consistent dividend income for investors.
COVID may not be a big part of Pfizer’s long-term growth picture, but the company is planning on building out its business beyond that by developing more drugs and pursuing acquisitions. Its pending deal with cancer therapy maker Seagen is part of a larger strategy that involves Pfizer adding $25 billion to its top line by the end of the decade.
Although investors are down on the stock this year, in the long run I think Pfizer will prove to be a spectacular investment to hold in your portfolio.
