We recently compiled a list of the 8 Best American Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) stands against the other American dividend stocks.
The US economy expanded by 2.8% in the third quarter of 2024, as reported in the Advance GDP release from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. This marked the ninth straight quarter of growth in real GDP. While the third-quarter increase was robust, it slightly lagged behind the 3% growth recorded in the second quarter of 2024. Economists polled by Dow Jones had anticipated a 3.1% rise.
Regardless of market conditions, investors frequently seek to minimize risk in their portfolios, and investing in dividend stocks is a reliable approach to achieve this. A report by S&P Dow Jones Indices highlighted the growing significance of dividends as a source of personal income. Over time, dividend income has steadily risen, increasing from 2.68% in the fourth quarter of 1980 to 7.88% in the second quarter of 2024. In contrast, interest income has seen a decline, dropping from 14.58% to 7.61% during the same period.
Also read: 8 Best Dividend Kings To Invest In For Safe Dividend Growth
The Dividend Aristocrat Index, which tracks the performance of companies with 25 consecutive years of dividend growth, has surged by over 10% since the start of 2024, underperforming the market. Although dividend stocks may not have been hitting it out of the park this year, US companies have remained dedicated to rewarding shareholders by consistently paying dividends. According to a report by S&P Dow Jones, for the 12-month period ending in September 2024, US common dividend increases totaled $74.7 billion, marking a 16.9% rise from the $63.9 billion recorded in the same period a year earlier, ending in September 2023. The report also mentioned that in the third quarter of 2024, there were 480 dividend increases reported, marking a 7.1% rise compared to the 448 increases in the same period in 2023. The total value of these dividend hikes amounted to $14.1 billion for the quarter.
WisdomTree offers an interesting perspective on global dividends in its report. According to their findings, the global equity market currently distributes around $1.6 trillion in dividends, an increase from approximately $1.5 trillion last year. Notably, 55% of these dividends come from outside the US, which is about 15% more than the non-US share in market cap-weighted indexes. On the other hand, US companies account for 44% of global dividends, which is considerably less than their 63% share of global market capitalization. This suggests that non-US markets are more heavily weighted in dividend-focused indexes, while US exposure is relatively lower. For instance, European countries make up about a quarter of global dividend payments, which is 10% more than their share of the global market cap.
That said, the start of dividend payments by several major US tech companies contributed an additional 1.1 percentage points to the global growth rate in Q2, as reported by Janus Henderson’s Global Dividend Index report. The report also mentioned that the contribution from these new dividend payers will persist throughout the remainder of the year, ensuring that US payout growth remains ahead of the global average. In view of this, let’s take a look at some of the best American dividend stocks.
Our Methodology:
We created this list by scanning Insider Monkey’s Q3 2024 database for US companies that have consistently increased their dividends for at least 10 years and are traded on American stock exchanges. Then, we chose stocks with dividend yields above 2% as of December 10. Finally, we selected the top 8 companies with the most hedge fund investors in Q3 2024 from the refined dataset.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).
Aerial view of a major oil rig in the middle of the sea, pumping crude oil.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 86
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) ranks second on our list of the best dividend stocks. On November 1, the American energy company announced a 4% hike in its quarterly dividend to $0.99 per share. This marked the company’s 42nd consecutive year of dividend growth. The stock supports a dividend yield of 3.50%, as of December 10.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is grabbing investors’ attention this year, surging by nearly 11% since the start of 2024. The company boasts a robust collection of high-quality assets. Its comprehensive operations, spanning exploration, production, refining, marketing, and specialty chemicals, offer a significant advantage by reducing risks and leveraging its global network to maximize cash flow efficiency.
In the third quarter of 2024, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) delivered strong results, posting $90.02 billion in revenue and exceeding analysts’ projections by $1.66 billion. The company leads in carbon capture and storage efforts, recently signing a new agreement that increased its annual CO2 offtake commitments to 6.7 million metric tons—more than any other competitor in the field. It also maintains a robust financial position. During the quarter, it reported $17.6 billion in operating cash flow and $11.3 billion in free cash flow. Additionally, it returned $9.8 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was included in 86 hedge fund portfolios at the end of Q3 2024, compared with 92 in the preceding quarter, as per Insider Monkey’s database. The stakes held by these funds have a collective value of nearly $7 billion. Ken Fisher, Rajiv Jain, and Ken Griffin were the company’s leading stakeholders in Q3.
Overall XOM ranks 2nd on our list of the best American dividend stocks to buy right now. While we acknowledge the potential for XOM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than XOM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.