U.K. Dividend Champions List: 2024 Rankings by Yield

7. AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Dividend Yield as of December 29: 2.24%

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) ranks seventh on our list of the best FTSE dividend stocks. The multinational pharmaceutical and biotech company specializes in a wide range of innovative medicines. The stock is popular among income investors because of its solid cash position. In the first nine months of the year, the company generated nearly $9 billion in operating cash flow, an increase from $7.9 billion during the same period last year. By the end of the quarter, it had approximately $5 billion in cash and cash equivalents. The company has consistently paid dividends to shareholders for 32 years. It currently offers an interim dividend of $1.00 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.24%, as of December 29.

Despite AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)’s strong cash position providing some flexibility, its stock has fallen by more than 3% in 2024 due to various challenges. Recently, its operations in China were impacted after the company’s president in the region, Leon Wang, and several other senior executives were arrested as part of fraud investigations. As a result, AstraZeneca expects a drop in sales in China, which is one of its important international markets.

However, AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) produced solid results in the third quarter of 2024 that boosted investor confidence. Revenue rose 18% year-over-year, totaling $13.6 billion. Adjusted earnings per share were $2.08, marking a 20% increase from the same period last year. The company’s oncology division, its largest, generated $5.6 billion in sales during the third quarter, a 19% increase compared to the previous year. Parnassus Investments also highlighted this in its Q2 2024 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) gained after announcing robust first-quarter results and setting 2030 targets at an Investor Day that were above consensus expectations. We continue to believe that AstraZeneca’s robust pipeline and industry-leading innovation in oncology should support above-expectation revenue growth for the next several years.”

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) was included in 42 hedge fund portfolios at the end of Q3 2024, compared with 49 in the previous quarter, according to Insider Monkey’s database. The stakes owned by these hedge funds are worth nearly $2 billion in total.