Morgan Stanley is one of the best financial services company in the world. It has over $700 billion in assets under management and devotes significant resources to researching stocks and therefore understanding the market much better than most other investors. We believe that by focusing on Morgan Stanley’s best stock picks, especially defensive stocks with high dividend yields, investors are more likely to beat the market in the long term.
Below we compiled a list of 14 high dividend stocks Morgan Stanley likes. All companies have at least $10 billion market cap, dividend yield over 5%, and were in Morgan Stanley’s portfolio at the end of June.
AT&T, Inc. (T): AT & T is a large telecommunications company providing telephone, internet and TV services. T has a dividend yield of 5.93% and Morgan Stanley invested $849 million in the stock. It has a market cap of $172B, a P/E ratio of 8.79, and returned 4.61% since the beginning of this year. Jim Simons had nearly $100 million invested in T shares.
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ): Verizon is a provider of communications services. VZ has a dividend yield of 5.41% and Morgan Stanley invested $571 million in the stock. It has a market cap of $105B, a P/E ratio of 16.49, and returned 8.84% since the beginning of this year. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, and Jim Simons had over $100 million invested in VZ.
Altria Group Inc. (MO): Altria Group is the biggest cigarettes manufacturer in the world. MO has a dividend yield of 5.98% and Morgan Stanley invested $249 million in the stock. It has a market cap of $56.8B, a P/E ratio of 16.62, and returned 16.48% since the beginning of this year. Tom Russo had $187 million invested in MO shares.
Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY): Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, manufactures and sells pharmaceutical products. LLY has a dividend yield of 5.16% and Morgan Stanley invested $158 million in the stock. It has a market cap of $44.0B, a P/E ratio of 8.91, and returned 12.87% since the beginning of this year. Jim Simons invested $388 million in LLY stocks.
Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD): Enterprise is a North American midstream energy company. EPD has a dividend yield of 5.73% and Morgan Stanley invested $214 million in the stock. It has a market cap of $37.44B, a P/E ratio of 27.25, and returned 7.16% since the beginning of this year. John Osterweis had $69 million invested in EPD.
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT): Lockheed Martin Corporation is a security company engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems and products. LMT has a dividend yield of 5.35% and Morgan Stanley invested $102 million in the stock. It has a market cap of $25.1B, a P/E ratio of 9.9, and returned 10.06% since the beginning of this year. Jean-Marie Eveillard had $278 million LMT stocks.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP): KMP is a pipeline transportation and energy storage company in North America.KMP has a dividend yield of 6.12% and Morgan Stanley invested $78.5 million in the stock. It has a market cap of $24.8B, a P/E ratio of 129.55, and returned 12.05% since the beginning of this year. Michael Messner had $22 million invested in KMP.
Southern Copper Corp. (SCCO): SCC is an integrated copper producer. SCCO has a dividend yield of 7.98% and Morgan Stanley invested $50.1 million in the stock. It has a market cap of $23.2B, a P/E ratio of 11.68, and lost 40.91% since the beginning of this year. Jim Simons had $56 million invested in SCCO.
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI): Reynolds American produces cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. RAI has a dividend yield of 5.43% and Morgan Stanley invested $51.5 million in the stock. It has a market cap of $22.8B, a P/E ratio of 16.97, and returned 25.01% since the beginning of this year. David Winters and Jim Simons both had over $40 million invested in RAI.
CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL): CenturyLink is an integrated communications company. CTL has a dividend yield of 8.45% and Morgan Stanley invested $230 million in the stock. It has a market cap of $21.2B, a P/E ratio of 14.55, and lost 21.51% since the beginning of this year. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson invested $111 million in CTL. Steven Cohen also had over $100 million invested in the stock.
