10 Best Defensive Dividend Stocks For 2025

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1. Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 111

Dividend Yield as of November 6: 4.07%

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) is one of the best dividend stocks to buy. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Matthew Smith reiterated a Buy call on Philip Morris with a $180 price target on November 6.

On November 4, independently of the analyst action, Philip Morris announced that from January 1, 2026 onwards, it will follow a new corporate structure, with the US and International business units being separated as the company grows.

This corporate restructuring will fill in for the 4 geographic business units as of now, with three new segments: International Smoke-Free, International Combustibles, and U.S.

Philip Morris aims to start financial reporting for the new units in Q1 2026, and the prior financials for the years 2023-2025 will be declared after this year’s full results are published. This restructuring supports PM’s broader objective of transitioning into a smoke-free business. Since 2008, it has spent more than $14 billion developing and launching alternatives to traditional cigarettes.

While we acknowledge the potential of PM to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than PM and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

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