Stock Picks
With great uncertainty comes great opportunity! Like grabbing some of your favorite stocks and collecting dividends. So, smile and wave while it's not all doom and gloom!
3 EasyUSD Dividend stock picks you to need to keep on your radar!
McDonald's Corporation (MCD)
The famous golden arches are back in favor this week for all the right reasons, and that's dividends!
While the McDonald's founder Ray Kroc said it best “Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get." it still holds true to this day.
The iconic fast-food chain has extended its 46-year streak of dividend growth after an exceptional pandemic rebound. Full-year 2021 earnings showed Revenue growth increased 20.9% year-over-year, and sales increased 10.2% over the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
Best of all is, valuations aren't stretched when looking at the P/E and its price-to-free cash flow ratio of 27.4, which shows the fast-food chain is trading at its average valuation. The average analyst twelve-month target price is sitting at $278.65, which means Mcdonald's might have an 11.19% upside.
So, getting back to dividends, Mcdonald's will be paying a Cash Dividend of $1.38 per share. The Ex-Dividend date will be the 28th of February 2022, with the payment date on the 15th of March 2022.
The dividend aristocrat is every income investor's dream considering the steady dividend growth history and the company’s robust earnings growth coming out of the pandemic.
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Halliburton Company (HAL)
The multinational corporation Halliburton has been an EasyResearch stock pick before for a good reason: rising oil and gas prices. The stock has increased over 40% since our October outlook, and we might see more upside with rising geopolitical tension.
The Fourth Quarter 2021 Results released in January 2022 were also much better than expected, with beats across the top and bottom lines. The company reported a beat in earnings per share estimates and a 32% increase in year-over-year revenue.
CEO Jeff Miller had this to say “I am excited about the accelerating multi-year upcycle. I expect the macro industry environment to remain supportive and the international and North America markets to continue their simultaneous growth.”
Even though the dividend is not as impressive as the stocks mentioned above, it is still a dividend raise of 167% and the first increase in 7 years, which just shows the company's confidence.
Halliburton will be paying a Cash Dividend of $0.12 per share. The Ex-Dividend date will be the 1st of March 2022, with the payment date on the 23rd of March 2022.
The oil and gas company's near-term cost increases and Frac sand shortage headwinds could be a factor for missing out on the increase in oil prices.
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Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS)
Investment banking is big business, and it doesn't get bigger than Goldman Sachs, which has also announced an increase in its dividend despite a lackluster earnings report. Goldman Sachs will be paying a Cash Dividend of $ 2.00 per share. The Ex-Dividend date will be the 1st of March 2022, with the payment date on the 30th of March 2022.
The investment bank's latest Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2021 earnings report released in January surprised and missed some of Wall Street’s expectations. While operating costs increased by 23% year-over-year and Q4 GAAP EPS missed estimates, Goldman managed to increase revenue by 7.7% YoY.
We might expect the financial sector to remain under pressure with the broader U.S economy as geopolitical tensions flare-up. The poster child of investment banking might not be suited for traditional income investors. Still, the growing 2.31% dividend yield and the average 12-month price targets by analysts at $451.71 per share should not be ignored.
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Sources –EasyResearch, EasyEquities Corporate Actions, McDonald's Corporation, Nasdaq, BNK Invest, Parker Tatevosian, Kody Kester, Zacks Research, Goldman Sachs Group, SeekingAlpha, Reuters, Koyfin, Business wire, OilPrice.com, Halliburton Company.
Take note: Stock data was taken on 22 February 2022.
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Barry is a market analyst with GT247, with a wealth of experience in the investment markets. Now in his tenth year in the markets, Barry "The Beef" Dumas brings a combination of technical analysis and fundamental insights to the table.