This is the last part of Insider Monkey’s three-part series of 30 Dividend Champions of 2021. Click to check out the Top 5 Dividend Champions of 2021 (Part III).
You can also check out 30 Dividend Champions of 2021 (Part II).
10. Genuine Parts Company (NYSE: GPC)
Dividend Yield: 3.14%
Automotive parts company Genuine Parts is one of the top 30 dividend champions of 2021. GPC was in the portfolio of 23 hedge funds out of 816 tracked by Insider Monkey, as of the end of the third quarter. Over the last 3 months, GPC shares have gained about 4.8%.
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9. Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE: TDS)
Dividend Yield: 3.33%
Illinois-based Telephone & Data Systems has increased its dividend consistently in the last 46 years. JP Morgan recently gave bullish comments about TDS, citing strength in the telecom sector. The firm has an Overweight rating for the stock with a price target of $30. As of Feb. 12, TDS is trading at around $20.39.
8. Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBSI)
Dividend Yield: 3.70%
Southside Bancshares is one of the top 30 dividend champions of 2021. The bank offers financial services including consumer and commercial loans, deposit accounts, trust services, safe deposit services and brokerage services. In the fourth quarter, the company earned a GAAP EPS of $0.89, beating the Street’s estimates by $0.24. Revenue in the quarter jumped 11.1% to $59.61 million, below the consensus by $0.79 million.
A total of 8 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on SBSI at the end of September.
7. Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA)
Dividend Yield: 3.73%
Famous pharmacy chain company Walgreens Boots Alliance has a strong dividend history, with 45 years of consistent dividend increase. The company operates retail drugstores, care clinics and pharmacy centers. The company is also behind Alliance Boots pharmacy which operates beauty stores and optical services worldwide. In January, the Wall Street Journal reported that WBA was considering Starbucks’ COO for its CEO position.
Hedge fund sentiment is declining for WBA, based on the 13F data disclosed for the third quarter. Of the 816 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 33 held stakes in WBA, down from 45 funds a quarter earlier.
6. Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE: ORI)
Dividend Yield: 4.18%
Illinois-based property insurance company Old Republic became a dividend champion in 2020. The company has now a track record of increasing its dividend consistently over the last 25 years. In the fourth quarter, the company posted upbeat results, thanks to a strong housing market which buoyed title insurance premium and fee revenue during the quarter. EPS in the period came in at $0.75, crushing past the analysts’ forecasts of $0.45.
A total of 31 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long ORI at the end of the September quarter.
Third Avenue Management, in their investor letter, highlighted a few stocks and Old Republic International Corp (NYSE:ORI) is one of them. Here is what Third Avenue Management stated:
“During the quarter the Fund initiated a position in Old Republic, which operates in several lines of insurance. Old Republic’s largest exposures are in specialty property and casualty segments including trucking insurance, workers’ comp and variety of others. The company has generally been a decent underwriter, historically speaking, in spite of the fact that trucking insurance has been a particularly challenging business due to a trend of rising claims and surprisingly large claim awards. That trend has caused a number of insurers to cease writing trucking insurance and the remaining players to substantially re-price those risks. We would expect Old Republic’s underwriting results to improve going forward. Old Republic is also one of the largest players in the oligopolistic title insurance market. The first function of title insurance is the mitigation and near-elimination of title risk in residential and commercial real estate transactions. The second function is to insure against any residual risk. For this reason, title claims tend to be rare, required regulatory capital in the business tends to be small, and returns on that capital tend to be quite high. Pure players in the title insurance industry, who are Old Republic’s direct competitors, are typically highly profitable and trade at substantial premiums to book value. Finally, Old Republic’s consolidated results and returns on equity have been dragged down for years by a book of business that is in runoff. While the existence of the runoff portfolio tends to drag on consolidated returns, as it liquidates it will continue to free up equity, which the company will likely continue distributing to shareholders in the form of special dividends. Taking all of these things together, it appears likely that Old Republic’s operating performance can improve meaningfully over time and that, in any event, the consolidated valuation, at or below tangible book value, even after making adjustments for recent capital market turmoil, materially understates the sum of its parts. More qualitatively, the company has historically had a reputation for being less than eager to engage the investment community, but we believe there has been a reconsideration of this posture coinciding with a recent management succession and new hires. To the extent that Old Republic is more proactive in explaining each of these drivers of improving operating performance and the degree to which the company is substantially undervalued, we would expect the result to be a positive impact on the share price.”
Click to continue reading and see the Top 5 Dividend Champions of 2021 (Part III).
Also check out 30 Dividend Champions of 2021 (Part I)
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Disclosure: None. 30 Dividend Champions of 2021 (Part III) is originally published at Insider Monkey.
