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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: AT&T, The Williams Companies and Sociedad Quimica Y Minera

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 4, 2022 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights AT&T (T - Free Report) , The Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB - Free Report) and Sociedad Quimica Y Minera (SQM - Free Report) .

Like Dividends: 3 Top-Ranked Stocks with Yields Above 5%

Investors love dividends. After all, there are few things in life better than getting paid.

And in a historically-volatile 2022, dividends have become a hot topic.

Dividends help alleviate drawdowns in other positions, provide a passive income stream, and can provide maximum returns through dividend reinvestment.

Three stocks with an annual dividend yield currently above 5% – AT&T, The Williams Companies, Inc.and Sociedad Quimica Y Minera– could all be considerations for investors with a focus on income.

Let's take a deeper dive into each one.

The Williams Companies, Inc.

The Williams Companies, Inc. is a premier energy infrastructure provider in North America, with core operations including finding, producing, gathering, processing, and transporting natural gas and natural gas liquids.

Like many other energy names, analysts have been bullish on WMB's earnings outlook, helping land the stock into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

WMB's current annual dividend yield of 5.2% is nicely above its Zacks Oils and Energy sector average of an already steep 4.3%.

Further, the company has upped its dividend five times over the last five years, carrying a 6.2% five-year annualized dividend growth rate.

For the cherry on top. WMB's bottom-line is forecasted to grow at a solid pace, with estimates calling for 14% earnings growth in FY22 and an additional 16% in FY23.

AT&T

AT&T is North America's second-largest wireless service provider and one of the world's leading communications service carriers. The company sports a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Analysts have had a bullish stance on the company's earnings outlook over the last few months.

AT&T's annual dividend yield comes in at 6%, well above its Zacks Wireless National industry average of 3.9%. Further, T carries a sustainable payout ratio sitting at 39% of its earnings.

Further, AT&T shares aren't expensive; the company's 6.9X forward earnings multiple is well beneath its 9.1X five-year median and reflects a 37% discount relative to its Zacks Wireless National industry.

AT&T sports a Style Score of an A for Value.

Sociedad Quimica Y Minera

Sociedad Quimica Y Minera is one of the world's largest lithium producers, with one of the industry's least impactful water, carbon, and energy footprints.

The company's earnings outlook has turned bright over the last several months, helping land the stock into the highly-coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

The company's annual dividend currently sits at a solid 5.3%, notably higher than that of its Zacks Basic Materials sector average.

Impressively, the company has upped its dividend ten times over the last five years, translating to a 26.1% five-year annualized dividend growth rate.

Keep an eye open for SQM's upcoming quarterly print on November 16th; the Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate of $3.32 suggests nearly an 800% Y/Y uptick in quarterly earnings.

Bottom Line

Structuring an income-generating portfolio is a widely-deployed strategy.

And in 2022, many investors have parked cash in dividend-paying stocks, helping cushion drawdowns in other positions.

All three stocks above – AT&T, The Williams Companies, Inc.and Sociedad Quimica Y Minera – currently carry annual dividend yields greater than 5%.

In addition, all three carry a favorable Zacks Rank, telling us that their near-term earnings outlook has recently improved. 

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.


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AT&T Inc. (T) - free report >>

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB) - free report >>

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (SQM) - free report >>

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