25 Best Dividend Aristocrats to Buy According to Analysts

4. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Upside Potential as of May 26: 22.8%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is a global healthcare company that offers a wide range of related products and services to its consumers. The company has been paying regular dividends to shareholders for 401 consecutive quarters and has raised its payouts for 52 years straight. It currently pays a per-share dividend of $0.51 every quarter and has a dividend yield of 2.12%, as of May 26.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) specializes in a wide range of products and services which reduces its dependency on any single market and helps it to generate revenue from multiple channels. The stock is up by over 2% in the past 12 months, as of the close of May 24. The stock has fallen from its high of around $120 per share earlier this year and is now trading at $101 per share, so it may present a potential buying opportunity for investors looking to capitalize on the lower price. Moreover, it has a forward P/E of 21.69, which is well below the industry average. In the first quarter of 2024, the company reported its fifth consecutive quarter of reporting double-digit organic sales growth in its underlying base business.

Polen Capital gave a positive outlook on Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in its Q1 2024 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“We increased our positions in ThermoFisher Scientific, Visa, Zoetis, Nike, and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT). Each of these companies is durable and available at attractive valuations, in our view, for the growth we see ahead. In fact, in the case of ThermoFisher, Nike, and Abbott Labs, we expect accelerating earnings growth in the back half of 2024 after more difficult earnings growth periods pass for each of these companies. ThermoFisher and Abbott will finally wind down most of their COVID-19 testing and vaccine-related efforts due to a lack of demand, so these should no longer be revenue growth headwinds.”

We agree with Polen Capital and like the stock because of its undervaluation, dividend policy, and promising growth prospects.

Insider Monkey’s database of Q1 2024 indicated that 62 hedge funds owned stakes in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), down from 64 in the previous quarter. These stakes are worth nearly $2.7 billion in total. With over 10 million shares, Fisher Asset Management was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q1.