5 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Cliff Asness

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1. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ)

Asness’s Stake Value: $317,372,000
Percentage of Cliff Asness’s 13F Portfolio: 0.51%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 69
Dividend yield: 4.39%

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is a telecommunications services company offering communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services. As of December 21, 2020, the company had almost 27 million wireless retail postpaid connections and 482,000 broadband connections. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) ranks 1st on our list of the best dividend stocks to buy according to billionaire Cliff Asness.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) declared a $0.6275 per share quarterly dividend on June 2nd, which will be payable on August 2nd. The stock has also been upgraded to Buy by Tigress Financial, MoffettNathanson, and JP Morgan as of March 2021, December 2020, and November 2020, respectively. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) revealed in its first-quarter report that its revenue stood at $32.87 billion while it had earnings of $5.25 billion, and it also beat EPS estimates for the quarter by $0.02. The stock has consistently beat EPS estimates for the past four quarters with its current EPS being $1.31. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) also has a forward PE ratio of 11.23.

As of the end of the first quarter of 2021, 69 hedge funds held stakes in the company worth over $11.38 billion, up from the 67 hedge funds holding shares in the company worth $10.5 billion. AQR Capital holds approximately 5.5 million shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) worth over $317 million.

You can also take a peek at 15 Best Long-Term Stocks To Buy Now and 10 Best Stocks To Buy For 2021.

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