5 Dividend Stocks to Buy for Financial Freedom

In this article, we discuss 5 dividend stocks to buy for financial freedom. If you want to see more stocks in this selection, click 10 Dividend Stocks to Buy for Financial Freedom. 

5. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Dividend Yield as of May 12: 2.71%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60

2022 was the 50th consecutive year of dividend increases for PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP), marking it as a prominent dividend king to invest in for financial freedom. On May 3, the company declared a $1.15 per share quarterly dividend, a 7% increase from its last dividend of $1.075. The dividend is payable on June 30, to shareholders of record on June 3. 

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) announced on April 26 its fiscal Q1 results, posting earnings per share of $1.29, beating consensus estimates by $0.06. The GAAP EPS of $3.06 also exceeded forecasts by $1.83. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s revenue for the period grew 9.31% year-over-year to $16.20 billion, outperforming analysts’ predictions by $658.69 million. 

On April 27, JPMorgan analyst Andrea Teixeira kept an Overweight rating on PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) and raised the price target on the stock to $186 from $183. The analyst views the company’s updated 2022 guidance as conservative and told investors that its underlying performance continues to impress.

In Q4 2021, Terry Smith’s Fundsmith LLP was the biggest PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shareholder, with 10.4 million shares worth $1.80 billion. Overall, 60 hedge funds were bullish on the stock at the end of December 2021. 

Here is what ClearBridge Investments had to say about PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“The pandemic created opportunities for us to be more aggressive in a variety of areas of the market. We were opportunistic throughout the year. After a strong year for equities, we sought to bolster more defensive areas of the portfolio and added to PepsiCo, increasing our exposure to a high-quality and stable name.”