20 Dividend Stocks That Billionaires Are Piling On

Numerous billionaire money managers, including the likes of Warren Buffett and Ken Fisher, absolutely love dividend stocks (check out a list of Ken Fisher’s favorite dividend picks to see for yourself). Given the vast amounts of money they are entrusted with to invest, it’s no surprise that they often turn to companies which pay dividends, which tend to be some of the biggest and most stable companies (and stocks) around.

We track about 60 of these supremely wealthy investors in our database alongside more than 600 other successful money managers and pay close attention to their top collective stock picks. At the beginning of this year we launched the Insider Monkey Billionaire Stock Index, which tracks the 30 Stocks Billionaires Are Crazy About. That index has beaten the market in 2018 (through November 16) with gains of 4.6%, which is trending in line with our backtests of that strategy’s potential, which showed average market beating returns of 1-2 percentage points annually.

We also track the top consensus picks of only the best performing hedge funds each quarter and share them exclusively with our newsletter subscribers and that strategy is in a class of its own. Insider Monkey’s flagship “Best Performing Hedge Funds Strategy” has DESTROYED the market since its May 2014 inception, returning an incredible 78.4% through December 3. The S&P 500? Barely 60%. You do the math. Check out a detailed analysis of Insider Monkey’s impressive performance and past quarterly stock picks for all the details. Our newest picks were released less than a month ago; don’t miss out!

Below we’ll check out 20 Dividend Stocks That Billionaires Are Piling On, all of which were owned by at least nine of the billionaire money managers tracked by Insider Monkey’s database on September 30, or about 15% of them, which is a strong consensus. For reference, among the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds in Q3 of 2018, only the seven most popular stocks were owned by at least 15% of hedge funds. To avoid repetition and provide as many valuable stock picks as possible, we have not included any of the 30 stocks from the Insider Monkey Billionaire Stock Index on this list. All of the following dividend stocks carry at least 2.5% dividend yields as of December 6, 2018.

20. State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 9

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $771 million

Forward Dividend & Yield: 1.88 (2.88%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-09-28

State Street announced an 11.9% hike to its dividend back in July, which raised it to a 2.03% forward yield at the time. Shares have since slid by over 23%, pushing the dividend up past a healthy 2.8%.

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19. CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 9

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $1.03 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 2.00 (2.70%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-10-23

CVS has raised its dividend payments for 15 straight years and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue for many more years to come, as the dividend payout ratio is currently just 28.54%.

18. Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 9

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $1.07 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 3.08 (3.32%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-10-30

Texas Instruments has also raised its dividend for 15 straight years, including a 24% hike in July after the company’s Q2 EPS beat estimates.

17. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 9

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $1.09 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 2.80 (2.66%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-09-20

After gaining nearly 50% in 2017, shares of RCL have retreated by 8% this year, pushing its dividend back above 2.5%. Billionaire money managers were extremely bullish on Royal Caribbean in Q3, nearly doubling the value of their holdings to $1.09 billion.

16. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 9

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $1.19 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 4.28 (4.89%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2019-01-14

AbbVie announced a 35% increase to its dividend back in February, which surpassed a 5% yield earlier this year. Billionaire Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors owned 1.54 million AbbVie shares on September 30.

15. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 9

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $1.58 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 4.00 (4.73%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-09-04

LYB shares have stumbled by 21% in 2018, but the company’s latest earnings report was a good one, with EPS rising by 15% year-over-year.

14. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 9

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $2.33 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 3.71 (3.20%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-12-06

Pepsi is approaching dividend king status, having raised its dividend for 46 straight years. However, the stock’s 5-year dividend growth rate has slipped below 10% as Pepsi’s payout ratio has crept up to just over 65%.

13. Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 9

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $2.47 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 3.20 (3.54%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-11-16

Phillips has raised its dividend aggressively over the past five years, as its 5-year growth rate is over 43%. Its yield has also soared in Q4, as Phillips shares have been crushed by 19%.

12. Bunge Limited (NYSE:BG)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 10

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $705 million

Forward Dividend & Yield: 2.00 (3.36%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-11-16

Bunge has raised its dividend for 17 straight years, including an 8.7% increase announced back in May. Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management owns a large Bunge position (2.70 million shares) and also hiked its call position in the stock by 2,631% in Q3.

11. Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 10

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $757 million

Forward Dividend & Yield: 0.85 (2.76%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-10-16

Conagra has raised its dividend for just two straight years and has a 5-year growth rate of only 1.79%. Nonetheless, the stock still carries a decent dividend yield of 2.76%.

10. Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 10

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $1.36 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 3.00 (2.86%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-11-20

Wynn’s dividend has rebounded in 2018, being raised by 50%, after the casino operator was forced to slash it by two-thirds in 2015.

9. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 10

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $2.18 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 2.28 (3.35%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-12-13

Gilead’s dividend yield has doubled since it first began making quarterly payments to shareholders in 2015. 56 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey’s database were long the stock at the end of September, including ten billionaires.

8. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 10

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $2.21 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 3.80 (3.00%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-10-16

PNC raised its dividend by 27% in July, the eighth-straight year it’s raised it. Billionaire investing legend Warren Buffett opened a new stake in PNC during Q3, consisting of 6.09 million shares.

7.  Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 10

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $2.44 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 4.48 (3.88%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-11-15

Chevron is in the midst of a sterling 31-year run of raising its annual dividend payments, though its 5-year growth rate is just 4.24%. Billionaire Ken Fisher owned the largest position in the stock among the funds tracked by our database, though it failed to rank among his Top Stock Picks Heading Into 2019.

6. QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 10

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $2.69 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 2.48 (4.43%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-12-05

Qualcomm has aggressively returned cash to shareholders in recent years, which has lead to a 5-year dividend growth rate of 18.34%. Billionaire Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management opened a position in QCOM during Q3 of nearly 5 million shares.

5. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 11

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $852 million

Forward Dividend & Yield: 1.20 (2.88%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-11-30

The Hartford Financial Services Group is probably the most surprising stock to land on this list, being owned by 11 billionaires on September 30. The company announced a 20% raise to its dividend in July, and has raised it by an impressive 200% over the past six years.

4. The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 11

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $1.14 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 1.36 (5.56%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-12-13

Williams Companies was forced to cut its dividend in both 2016 and 2017, though its yield remained high due to the stock losing half of its value between mid-2015 and the end of 2017. The company has raised its dividend this year despite its payout ratio being exorbitant at over 174%.

3. Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 11

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $2.42 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 1.60 (3.01%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-10-04

Bristol Myers has a 9-year run of raising its dividend, though its 5-year growth rate sits at just 2.78%. Quant funds D E Shaw and Renaissance Technologies are among its largest shareholders.

2. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 12

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $19.47 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 1.56 (3.18%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-11-29

Dividend king Coca-Cola has raised its quarterly payments to shareholders for 56 consecutive years. Like rival Pepsi, Coke’s moderately high payout ratio (close to 75%) has lead to somewhat tepid dividend growth in recent years.

1. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Number of Billionaire Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of September 30): 13

Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of September 30): $2.92 billion

Forward Dividend & Yield: 1.20 (2.90%)

Ex-Dividend Date: 2018-10-30

Topping the list of 20 Dividend Stocks That Billionaires Are Piling On is Morgan Stanley, which counted 13 billionaires among its shareholders at the end of Q3. Despite its strong dividend growth over the last five years, Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is still a minuscule 24.33%.

Disclosure: None