5 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Morgan Stanley’s Quant Screen

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

Dividend Yield as of September 27: 5.53%

Total Expected Return: 21%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 56

On September 14, Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.27 per share, up 1.6% from its prior dividend of $1.25 per share. The dividend is payable on October 12 to stockholders of record on September 28. As of September 27, the stock is offering a forward dividend yield of 5.53% and has free cash flows of $11.6 billion.

On July 19, Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett revised his price target on Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) to $99 from $107 and maintained a Hold rating on the shares. Morgan Stanley analysts see a 21% upside to Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM). The stock is currently trading at a discount to earnings, and as of September 27 has a trailing twelve-month PE ratio of 15.47.

Insider Monkey spotted Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) on 56 investment portfolios at the close of Q2 2022. The total stakes of these hedge funds amounted to $6.86 billion. This is compared to 55 positions in the previous quarter with stakes worth $6.64 billion. The hedge fund sentiment for the stock is positive.

As of June 30, GQG Partners owns over 30 million shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) and is the leading shareholder in the company. The fund’s stakes are valued at $3 billion.

Here is what First Eagle Investments had to say about Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in its second-quarter 2022 investor letter:

“Philip Morris shares benefited from the market rotation into defensive areas of the market. The company continued to make progress in its transition to next-generation, non-combustible products and during the quarter entered into an agreement to acquire Swedish Match, which is a Stockholm-based maker of Zyn oral nicotine pouches.”