5 Best Dividend Paying Stocks According to David Harding’s Winton Capital Management

2. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 57
Dividend Yield as of January 27: 4.91%
Winton Capital Management’s Stake Value: $3,458,000

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is an American multinational telecommunications company. On September 2, 2021, the company increased its quarterly dividend by 2% to $0.64 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.91%. This marked the company’s 15^th consecutive dividend growth, making it one of the best dividend stocks in David Harding’s portfolio. Moreover, in the first half of 2021, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) paid approximately $5.2 billion in cash dividends.

Winton Capital Management held a stake worth over $3.4 million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in Q3, which made up 0.19% of its 13F portfolio. According to Ivan Feinseth, an analyst at Tigress Financial, the growing momentum in wireless and broadband will benefit the company in the future. The analyst, in January, lifted its price target on Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) to $68, while reiterating a Buy rating on the shares.

In Q3 2021, 57 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), down from 63 in the previous quarter. The consolidated value of these stakes is over $10.3 billion. Among these hedge funds, Berkshire Hathaway held a stake worth $8.5 billion in the Delaware-based company, becoming its largest shareholder in Q3.

Miller/Howard Investments mentioned Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in its Q1 2021 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“We sold Verizon (VZ) based on concerns over how much they might spend in ongoing spectrum auctions. Management may legitimately view spending billions of dollars to expand their spectrum holdings as necessary, but we believe the payoff will be slow and will make it challenging to grow the dividend at a good pace.”