Hedge Funds’ 5 Favorite Dividend Stocks With 4%+ Yields

3. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)

Hedge Funds Long XOM as of June 30: 50

XOM Dividend Yield: 4.11%

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) ranks third, with 50 hedge funds owning the stock at the end of June, which carries a 4.11% dividend yield. The hedge fund ownership was a decline from 57 funds at the end of March, though the value of their collective positions rose to $2.22 billion from $1.67 billion. Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management (948,888 shares) and John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies (854,667 shares) both made large additions to their Exxon Mobil positions during Q2.

After reaching $89 in late-January, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) shares have since retreated to less than $80. Q2 revenue of $73.5 billion beat estimates, but EPS of $0.92 fell well short of the $1.27 consensus. During the quarter, Exxon managed oil-equivalent production of 3.6 million barrels per day, down 7% year-over-year, while natural gas production fell by 10%.

2. General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)

Hedge Funds Long GM as of June 30: 59

GM Dividend Yield: 4.23%

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) sports an impressive 4.23% dividend yield and was owned by 59 of the hedge funds in our database on June 30, ranking it second on this list. David Einhorn‘s Greenlight Capital (21.26 million shares) has been a vocal bull of GM for some time, while Stephen J. Errico’s Locust Wood Capital Advisors opened a new position of 336,045 GM shares during the June quarter.

After a big finish to 2017, shares of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) have slumped in 2018, sliding by over 10%. Though GM’s second-quarter profits beat expectations it lowered its full-year profit outlook due to rising steel and aluminum costs as a result of President Trump’s tariffs. GM’s forward P/E sits at just 6.2, half of what it was less than four years ago.

1. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Hedge Funds Long T as of June 30: 94

T Dividend Yield: 6.14%

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) certainly appears to be the most attractive high-yield dividend stock on this list, having wide leads in both the amount of hedge fund ownership and the stock’s dividend yield (just over 6%). 94 hedge funds owned AT&T at the end of June, a massive jump from just 39 three months prior. New owners of the stock during the second-quarter included Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group (9.48 million shares) and John Paulson’s Paulson & Co (2.38 million shares).

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s huge spike in hedge fund ownership was courtesy of the telecommunications giant closing its $85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner. The completed mega-merger, which is nonetheless still facing some antitrust scrutiny, has done nothing to help AT&T’s shares. Not only are AT&T’s shares down by over 15% this year, they are also trading at a deep historical discount relative to peer Verizon. AT&T will now focus on unlocking as much as $2.5 billion in synergies from the Time Warner merger, which it hopes to accomplish by 2021.

Disclosure: None