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Four stocks to buy for double-digit-percentage dividend hikes may interest investors eyeing protection from recent bank collapses and any others that may follow.

The four stocks to buy for double-digit-percentage dividend hikes hold special appeal amid unsteady market reactions to the seizure of three large banks by U.S. regulators within the past two weeks and the Swiss government brokering UBS Group AG’s purchase of financially struggling Credit Suisse for more than $3 billion in an all-stock deal that included an extra $100 billion from the Swiss central bank as a sweetener to consummate the combination. The four stocks to buy for double-digit-percentage dividend hikes each have undeniable growth prospects to prop up their payouts and power toward share-price increases.

The three big bank closures in the past two weeks should not affect any of these stocks that stand out for their recent double-digit-percentage dividend increases. Santa Clara, California-based Silicon Valley Bank (NASDAQ: SIVB), New York’s Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) and La Jolla, California-based Silvergate Bank (NYSE: SI) each collapsed due to excess risk taking.

Four Stocks to Buy for Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Hikes as Banks Falter

In the January prediction issue of Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter led by Mark Skousen, PhD, he predicted a financial crisis in 2023: “Now we are facing another alarming trend, what I call ‘The Fed Disaster Plan,’ raising interest rates in a fast and furious fashion, causing a potential recession, a prolonged bear market on Wall Street and perhaps even a monetary crisis in 2023.”

Three months into the year, a monetary/banking crisis has caused financial institutions to scramble for liquidity, Skousen wrote in the April 2023 issue of his newsletter. The portfolio of recommendations in the newsletter “weathered the storm,” he added.

“We made a few conservative changes in our portfolio, avoided investing in bonds, and focused instead on high-income stocks and funds, profitable technology companies and gold as a hedge against monetary instability,” Skousen wrote.

Skousen, who also leads the Five Star Trader advisory service that features stocks and options, identified weakness developing in the stocks and the market when he told his subscribers to take profits. As an economics professor, Skousen tracks inflation and recession risk closely.

Mark Skousen, a scion of Ben Franklin and head of Five Star Trader, meets Paul Dykewicz.

Pension Chairman Stresses the Need for Risk Management

“When the Fed is openly supporting stock markets and economic growth, it’s easy to make money by taking a lot of risk,” said Bob Carlson, a pension fund chairman and leader of the Retirement Watch investment newsletter. “But when the Fed changes course, risk management is important to success and survival. SVB had weak risk management. Investors need to look beyond a firm’s financial numbers and try to determine if it has adequate risk management policies.”

Retirement Watch head Bob Carlson discusses investing with Paul Dykewicz.

As a pension fund chairman, Carlson is savvy about managing investment risks. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Fairfax County Employees’ Retirement System since 1992 and has been elected to serve as its chairman every year since 1995.

Skousen recommended a dividend-paying pharmaceutical stock that injected a potent profit for subscribers of his Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter, even when the market weakened during the pandemic. New York-based Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) soared 54.76% from December 2015 to July 2021, while Skousen recommended the stock.

Deere Plows Among Four Stocks to Buy for Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Hikes

Moline, Illinois-based Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) has displayed a rising dividend policy since 1988, and it boosted its payout by 10.6% with a pair of increases in the past six months. Skousen, who recommended the stock in January to subscribers of his Five Star Trader advisory service, grew up on a 50-acre farm outside Portland, Oregon, where he drove the Deere tractor of his father, Leroy Skousen.

Skousen took interest in Deere selling under 16 times forward earnings and offering a return on equity (ROE) of 37%. Skousen, as head of the Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter, further recommended specific call options in Deere. Such call options can jump much higher than the share price.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

According to Zacks Research, Wall Street estimates have been rising recently, with earnings growth expected to increase by 20% during fiscal year 2023.

Deere Intrigues Portia Capital Among Four Stocks to Buy for Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Hikes

Deere has done an “excellent job” supporting its stock price by repurchasing 25% of its shares outstanding in the past 10 years, said Michelle Connell, head of Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

The company is known for buying shares when valuations are low and using its cash for these purchases, Connell continued. There have been some concerns regarding Deere’s insider sales of approximately $4 million in 2022, she added.

“These don’t bother me,” Connell counseled. “Executives frequently have tight windows for the sales of their shares, and estate planning may also be part of the executives’ strategy. I like DE because it takes advantage of the fact that that as a population increases, the demand for affordable food increases as well.”

Michelle Connell leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Oracle Is Among Four Stocks to Buy for Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Hikes

Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), a multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas, recently reported solid fiscal third-quarter results, despite a “modest miss” of $52 million on revenue due to a mix-shift to more subscription revenue, according to a research note from Chicago-based investment firm William Blair & Co. Meanwhile, non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) showed that Oracle’s operating margin improved from the prior two quarters to 42%, and non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) were ahead of consensus estimates by two cents. Constant-currency revenue growth in the third quarter, excluding contribution from health technology business Oracle Cerner, reached 7%, driven by continued demand for Oracle’s cloud business.

Oracle management provided fourth-quarter revenue guidance in line with consensus estimates and non-GAAP EPS ahead by $0.11, despite a 2-percentage point currency headwind. Though traction for Oracle’s cloud portfolio continues to be the major driver of growth and management expects the business to accelerate, William Blair expressed concern about Oracle’s positioning in the database market, as well as the continued macro uncertainty that management alleges has had a limited impact on growth.

The analysts also are monitoring the impact on free cash flow from the integration of the company’s lower-margin Oracle Cerner business, as well as continued investments in capital expenditures of approximately $2 billion per quarter through most of fiscal 2024. At an enterprise value to free cash flow multiple of 36 times calendar 2023 estimates and a balanced risk/reward equation for the stock, William Blair rates the stock “market perform.”

With the double-digit-percentage dividend increase of 25%, Oracle offers the potential of a technology stock that should climb in the future and a rising dividend payout.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

American Express Is One of Four Stocks to Buy for Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Hikes

New York-based American Express (NYSE: AXP) is best known as a credit card services provider, but it describes itself as an integrated payments platform. While most companies are incorporating a slowing economy and an uptick in unemployment and charge-offs in 2023, recent trends and management commentary suggest performance through February is tracking in line with or slightly better than expectations, according to Chicago-based investment firm William Blair.

The labor market remains strong and consumer balance sheets are under levered, payment rates are moderating but remain elevated, and stable consumer spending is resilient, as U.S. unadjusted ex-auto retail sales rose 8.0% in January/February versus +7.2% in the December quarter, the investment firm noted.

“We anticipate loan growth to moderate and charge-offs to increase in 2023,” William Blair opined. “Despite the recent volatility, we are very comfortable with the strength of the balance sheets of the large issuers including American Express, Discover, and Bread Financial as they all have significant deposits and hold securities on the balance sheet. These issuers have very small “unrealized losses” on their securities portfolios and also have access to ample other funding sources, including securitization of credit card assets.

Loan growth in the managed portfolio remains strong and consistent with January, up 21% for the group, and should contribute to both rising net interest income and credit losses in the coming months, William Blair wrote. Managed loan 30-day delinquencies rose seven basis points month-to-month in February to 3.16% and jumped 93 basis points year-over-year versus 2.23% in February 2022, while charge-offs rose 39 basis points month-to-month to 3.80% and are up 159 basis points year-over-year from 2.21% in February 2022.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

The American Express Company’s board of directors announced on March 8 its approval to repurchase up to 120 million common shares, in accordance with the company’s capital plans. The authorization replaced the approximately 36 million common shares of common stock previously approved in 2019.

The timing and the common shares purchased under the company’s authorized capital plans will depend on factors such as the company’s business plans, financial performance and market conditions.

Separately, the directors approved a $0.08, or 15% increase in the quarterly dividend on the company’s common stock, consistent with a planned increase mentioned in the company’s fourth-quarter 2022 earnings release. The dividend was raised to $0.60 per common share, from $0.52, payable on May 10, 2023, to shareholders of record on April 7, 2023.

Steel Dynamics Rounds out Four Stocks to Buy for Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Hikes

Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD), one of the largest domestic steel producers and metal recyclers in the United States, is a favorite of Portia Capital’s Connell. Key reasons to own Steel Dynamics include its strong fundamentals, generating an average of $1.4 billion cash per year for each of the last 10 years, Connell counseled.

Steel Dynamics also has never missed a dividend in the past 10 years, while recently boosting its payout 25%, Connell said. In addition, steel is a necessity for building out renewable energy, whether it’s a wind generator, a solar panel or an electric recharging station, Connell added.

Another appeal is that demand for steel will remain high for the next three to five years, Connell said. Long-term averages for the company’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio and price-to-sales ratio shows the stock is undervalued, Connell continued.

Connell concluded that Steel Dynamics could soar more than 20% during the next 12-18 months.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

China’s Xi Visits Russia While Japan’s Leader Goes to Ukraine for Talks with President Zelenksy

Russia’s hawkish former President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday, March 24, that his country’s military could send troops back to Kyiv, despite their current struggle in eastern Ukraine.

Now the current deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Medvedev has repeatedly talked about potential new offensives since the war in Ukraine started on Feb. 24, 2022. “Nothing can be ruled out” about Russia’s war effort, news reports quoted Medvedev saying.

The remarks occurred just days after Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Ukraine’s President Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday, March 21. On the same day, China’s leader Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks. Xi called Putin a “dear friend,” even though the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Friday, March 17, for the Russian president and accused him of having responsibility for war crimes in Ukraine that followed the invasion he ordered more than a year ago.

Putin committed the “war crime” of overseeing the unlawful abduction and deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia, among others, the court stated in a press release. The visit by Xi appears aimed at shifting blame for the war in Ukraine to the United States and its allies, analysts said. Putin called the attack on Ukraine a “special military” operation, but it has grown into an extended war of more than one year, even though Russia’s leaders reportedly expected a quick victory.

CDC Shows Vaccinations Against New Bivalent Variant of COVID-19 Keep Rising

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported rising vaccination rates against COVID-19 and its bivalent variant. The CDC reports that 269,835,963 people, or 81.3% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of March 22. People who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 230,283,056 of the U.S. population, or 69.4%, according to the CDC. Also as of March 22, the United States has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 51,335,207 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 19.9%. Vaccinations should help consumers shop, travel and spend money to support the economy.

The four stocks to buy for double-digit-percentage dividend hikes feature companies that are capable of delivering capital appreciation and rising payouts. All four could entice investors seeking refuge from big bank failures, Russia’s continuing onslaught against Ukraine and economic concerns.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, Guru Focus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. He is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The uplifting book is great gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for special pricing on multiple-book purchases.

Double-digit-percentage dividend increases tempt investors when offered by stocks on the rise, particularly after three recent big bank failures.

The double-digit-percentage dividend increases tantalize investors who seek both income and share-price appreciation. The bonus with these stocks is that each has growth prospects that should support the payouts and price-share increases that investors seek.

The three big bank closures in the past week should not affect any of these stocks that stand out for their recent double-digit percentage dividend increases. Santa Clara, California-based Silicon Valley Bank (NASDAQ: SIVB), New York’s Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) and La Jolla, California-based Silvergate Bank (NYSE: SI) each collapsed in the past week due to excess risk taking.

Not even an auditing firm like KPMG LLP fully recognized the risk. Silicon Valley Bank failed just 14 days after receiving a clean auditing report and cryptocurrency-focused Signature Bank collapsed 11 days after no red flags were waved about its finances after KMPG’s latest review, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Increases Occur Despite Bank Collapses

Retirement Watch head Bob Carlson discusses investing with Paul Dykewicz.

As a pension fund chairman, Carlson is seasoned about managing investment risks. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Fairfax County Employees’ Retirement System since 1992 and been elected to serve as its chairman every year since1995.

Another experienced investment guide who appreciates dividend-paying stocks is Mark Skousen, PhD, who recommended a profitable one in his Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter when the overall market struggled during the pandemic. Dividend-paying and New York-based Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) rose 54.76% from December 2015 to July 2021, while Skousen recommended it.

Skousen, who also leads the Five Star Trader advisory service that features stocks and options, identified weakness developing in the stocks and the market when he informed his subscribers to take profits. As an economics professor, Skousen also tracks inflation and recession risk closely.

Deere Holds Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Increases Near

Moline, Illinois-based Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) has had a rising dividend policy since 1988, and it boosted its payout by 10.6% with a pair of increases in the past six months. Skousen, who recommended the stock during January to subscribers of his Five Star Trader advisory service, grew up on a 50-acre farm outside Portland, Oregon, where he drove the Deere tractor of his father, Leroy Skousen.

Skousen observed that Deere is selling under 16 times forward earnings and has a return on equity (ROE) of 37%. Skousen, who heads the Forecasts & Strategies

investment newsletter, further recommended specific call options in Deere, which can ascend much faster than the stock price.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

According to Zacks Research, Wall Street estimates have been rising recently, with earnings growth expected to increase by 20% during fiscal year 2023.

Mark Skousen, a scion of Ben Franklin and head of Five Star Trader, meets Paul Dykewicz.

Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Increases Interest Portia Capital

Michelle Connell leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Increases Include Dicks’ Sporting Goods

Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, recently received a buy rating and a $170 price objective from BofA Global Research, in-line with the recreation company’s historical average. The stock continues to benefit from the shift to solitary leisure activities, as well as an improving outlook for footwear allocations, BofA wrote in a recent research note.

Risks to attaining the price objective are potential weakening of the macro environment and rising gas prices. Secular headwinds in the golf category could come from weaker traffic trends, higher than-expected cost pressures and the risk of a more competitive pricing environment, the investment firm added.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is the largest sporting goods company in the United States and offers differentiated product lines and private label assortment, according to BofA. The company recently boosted its dividend payout by 104.9%.

Dick’s Sporting Goods sells virtually every imaginable athletic product. It also is where I bought my last softball glove.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Double-Digit-Percentage Dividend Increases Highlight Hess

In addition, BofA recommends Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES), which recently increased its dividend payout by 16.8%. The New-York-based company faces similar risks to those of Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), except that the news flow around HES’ exploratory and appraisal drilling activities could hurt the stock. Upside to the price objective include higher oil and gas prices, BofA wrote.

The company’s free cash flow outlook is the only growth story among the U.S. exploration and productions companies, BofA wrote in a research note. While the near-term multiple on Hess is high versus its peers, it is not high enough, according to BofA.

The investment firm sees price appreciation in the future of Hess. When that outlook is combined with a rising dividend policy, Hess offers an enticing opportunity for income seekers.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Micro-Cap Stocks Offer Alternative to Dividend Payers

An alternative to investing in dividend stocks is to put some money in fast-growing micro-cap stocks. That is the niche of futurist George Gilder’s Moonshots advisory service, which limits its circulation to enhance its exclusivity. Gilder and Moonshots’ Senior Analyst Richard Vigilante recently returned from a trip to Israel to conduct due diligence on prospective investments.

Investors interested in micro-cap alternatives may appreciate knowing Moonshots’ portfolio companies jumped an average of 84%, double the gains of the NASDAQ, from July 2019 to February 2023, counting only closed positions. I am reaching out to globe-trotting Gilder and his team as they search for companies developing the kinds of new paradigms that investors crave.

Russia Downs U.S. Surveillance Drone Above International Waters Near Ukraine

Investors should be aware that a Russian warplane struck a U.S. surveillance drone above the Black Sea near Ukraine on Tuesday, March 14, hitting the drone’s propeller and causing its American operators to bring it down in international waters, the Pentagon reported. Until that incident, Russia and the United States had managed to avoid a direct confrontation amid the war in Ukraine.

Pentagon officials said the unarmed and unmanned Reaper drone was on a routine reconnaissance mission when two Russian Su-27 fighter jets approached it about 75 miles southwest of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, an area Russia has used to launch strikes against Ukraine. The Russian warplanes became aggressive, dumped fuel on the drone and one of Russia’s pilots maneuvered to strike the U.S. aircraft, forcing it down into the Black Sea. The midair clash is the first known direct contacts between the Russian and American militaries since the war in Ukraine started last Feb. 24.

America’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the latest incident was part of a “pattern of aggressive, risky and unsafe actions by Russian pilots in international airspace.”

Johns Hopkins Stops Round-the-Clock Updates of COVID Cases and Death

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths rose to 6,881,955 people, with total cases of 676,633,645, Johns Hopkins University reported on March 10, its last day of collecting data about the pandemic after three years of round-the-clock tracking. COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 103,804,263, while deaths hit 1,123,836 as of March 10, according to Johns Hopkins University. Until recent reports that China had more than 248 million cases of COVID-19, America ranked as the country with the most coronavirus cases and deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 269,650,596 people, or 81.2% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of March 15. People who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 230,211,943 of the U.S. population, or 69.3%, according to the CDC. Also as of March 15, the United States has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 51,094,257 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 19.8%.

The double-digit-percentage dividend increases offered by stocks with favorable outlooks create tempting opportunities for investors, despite the failure of three big U.S. banks, Russia’s downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, inflation and recession risk.

Three dividend-paying pharmaceutical funds to buy for income are supported by products people need amid the uncertainty of the second-biggest U.S. bank failure, Russia’s unrelenting war in Ukraine, inflation and recession risk.

The three dividend-paying pharmaceutical funds to buy offer investors exposure to stocks of various sizes, including large-cap companies with market capitalizations of $10 billion and up, as well as mid caps of $2 billion to $10 billion. Investors received an unexpected jolt of bad news on Friday, March 10, when regulators shut down America’s 17th-largest commercial financial institution, Silicon Valley Bank, of Santa Clara, California.

Other major risks for investors include Russia’s continuing invasion of Ukraine, a 6.4% inflation rate during the past year and plans for the Fed to keep raising ratees that could put the U.S. economy in jeopardy of a recession. Investors who want a diversified portfolio of dividend-paying pharmaceutical funds, including biopharmaceuticals, can choose among several exchange-traded funds (ETFs), said Bob Carlson, a pension fund chairman since 1995 and head of the Retirement Watch investment newsletter. Carlson said he likes the simplicity of choosing funds for investors seeking exposure to an array of drug company stocks of various sizes, including small caps of between $2 billion and $250 million.

Retirement Watch head Bob Carlson discusses investing with Paul Dykewicz.

Three Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Funds to Buy for Diversification

First Trust Nasdaq Pharmaceuticals (FTXH) has earned higher returns over time compared to an alternative ETF, but it is the more volatile of his two choices, Carlson said. The fund generally holds smaller companies that are trading at lower valuations, compared to the portfolios of competing pharmaceutical ETFs, he added.

“As a result, the companies owned by the fund tend to have lower dividends and stock buybacks than others in the industry,” Carlson said.

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In addition, FTXH is a concentrated fund that recently held 30 positions and had 58% of the portfolio in the 10 largest positions. The portfolio can change rapidly, with the ETF having a 77% turnover rate in the last year, Carlson counseled.

Recent top holdings included Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: QILD), Bristol-Meyers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN). The fund had a 2.55% return in 2022 but has dipped 7.67% so far in 2023.

Chart courtesy of w www.stockcharts.com

Three Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Funds to Buy as Protection Include IHE

A more conservative choice than FTXH is iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals (IHE). The fund tries to track the Dow Jones U.S. Select Pharmaceuticals Index. Since IHE seeks to mirror an index, the fund has a much lower turnover ratio of only 20% compared to FTXH.

IHE recently had 48 positions, with 74% of its portfolio consisting of its 10 largest positions. Top holdings were Johnson & Johnson, (NYSE: JNJ), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Catalent (NYSE: CTLT), Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS) and Viatris (NASDAQ: VTRS).

The fund declined 4.87% in 2022 and is down 8.61% so far this year.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Three Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Funds to Buy Feature PPH

The third dividend-paying fund to buy is the VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH). The position, recommended by Jim Woods in his Intelligence Report investment newsletter, remains up about 15% since he first highlighted it in August 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, there has no doubt been pressure on this sector of late, he acknowledged.

Jim Woods leads Intelligence Report and the High Velocity Options service.

PPH is one of four funds in the Intelligence Report newsletter’s Tactical Trends Portfolio, with only the newest one recommended earlier this year not showing a total return of close to 10% or above. For aggressive investors, Woods heads the High Velocity Options service that produced a 134.34% gain in call options of Brazil’s Zale SA, a mining and minerals stock, within just 30 days. He closed that trade less than three months ago to help his subscribers lock in profits.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

The top five positions of PHH are Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Novo Nordisk A/S ADR (NYSE: NVO), Merck (NYSE: MRK), AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) and Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: XTS). The fund has 54% of its assets in its top 10 holdings.

Seasoned Investor Skousen Shows the Value of Stops to Safeguard Gains

Another seasoned investment professional who has successfully invested in pharmaceutical stocks is Mark Skousen, PhD, who recommended a profitable one in his Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter as the overall market struggled during the pandemic. The dividend-paying stock rose 54.76% from December 2015 to July 2021, including part of the COVID-19 crisis.

One of the challenges of investing in pharmaceutical stocks is entering and exiting at the right times, since new product development is not guaranteed to succeed. Skousen chose a large-cap stock and held it through the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stock, New York-based Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), turned into a profitable investment when the company astutely teamed up with a smaller industry partner, BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX), a Mainz, Germany-based biotechnology company that has grown beyond the mid-cap stage and now is at the low end of the large-cap range with a market cap of $31.31 billion. Even though Pfizer did not acquire BioNTech, the two companies formed a partnership to provide one of the world’s first and most effective COVID-19 vaccines.

BioNTech was a mid-cap stock as recently as 2019, when it had a market cap of $7.68 billion before the pandemic. Its partnership with Pfizer produced and distributed a highly effective vaccine. The share prices of BioNTech and Pfizer both rose during the pandemic but Skousen, who also leads the Five Star Trader advisory service that features stocks and options, identified weakness developing in the stocks and the market when he informed his subscribers to take profits. Skousen also tracks inflation and recession risk closely and he has been called one of the top 20 living economists.

Mark Skousen, a scion of Ben Franklin and head of Five Star Trader, meets Paul Dykewicz.

Xenon is Alternative to Three Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Funds to Buy

Vancouver, Canada-based Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: XENE), with a market capitalization of $2.272 billion, is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that is developing therapeutics to improve the lives of patients with neurological disorders. Xenon is rated to “outperform” the market by the Chicago-based William Blair investment banking and wealth management firm.

The investment firm calculated an estimated fair value of $47 per share to Xenon, based on a risk-adjusted net present value of the company’s key products sold in the United States and the European Union. The company’s niche is to provide a novel product pipeline of neurology therapies to address areas of high unmet medical need, with a focus on epilepsy.

With a significantly differentiated selective “voltage-gated ion channel modulator platform,” de-risked mechanisms of action for generalized antiseizure medications (ASMs) and a targeted therapy approach for pediatric EEs, Xenon is positioned as a potential market leader in that pediatric treatment, as well as a possible large provider in the broad epilepsy market.

Chart courtesy of w www.stockcharts.com

Xenon improved its cash position in June 2022 with a public offering that boosted its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities to $720.8 million at year-end 2022, compared to $551.8 million at the end of 2021. Based on current operating plans, including the completion of the XEN1101 Phase 3 epilepsy studies, Xenon’s management estimated having sufficient cash to fund operations into 2026.

The company reported no revenue in fourth-quarter 2022 and $9.4 million for full-year 2022, compared to $3.7 million and $18.4 million for the same periods in 2021, respectively. For 2022, the decrease of $9.0 million was primarily due to the Neurocrine Biosciences collaboration; completion of all performance obligations for an upfront payment in March 2022 and the June 2022 end of the research component of the collaboration. In addition, $3.0 million was recognized under an agreement with Pacira BioSciences in the year ended 2021, whereas the agreement did not produce any revenue in 2022.

“Prescribing physicians are seeking new, differentiated therapeutic options that improve upon existing anti-seizure medications, and we remain committed to improving the lives of patients with epilepsy,” said Ian Mortimer, Xenon’s president and chief executive officer. “We look forward to important clinical milestones this year including the anticipated topline read-out in the third quarter from our XEN1101 Phase 2 X-NOVA study of a major depressive disorder, as well as an anticipated data read-out from our partners at Neurocrine from their Phase 2 study in adult patients with focal onset seizures in the second half of the year.”

Rising Small Cap Worth Watching Amid Three Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Funds to Buy

Tustin, California-based Avid Bioservices (CDMO), with a market cap of $1.01 billion, is a contract development and manufacturing organization, or a CDMO. It explains why the company’s leaders chose CDMO as the stock’s ticker symbol, said Michelle Connell, head of Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Avid provides manufacturing facilities to other biotech companies, since the industry is constrained and is “very short” on capacity. To address the problem, Avid is in the process of more than doubling its capacity, Connell continued.

Michelle Connell leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Connell said she prefers CDMO to other biotech companies since it is not developing pharmaceuticals, thereby it lacks dependence on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, Connell counseled. Biotech companies that are dependent upon FDA approval are binary, either winning or losing, she added.

“Thus, there can be huge risk owning one or two pure biotech plays,” Connell said.

Last quarter, CDMO failed to meet its earnings estimates. However, since Avid is building out capacity, the company’s management remains very optimistic, she added.

Avid increased its guidance for future quarters when it missed its latest earnings, Connell continued. She further pointed out that, unlike many biotech plays, Avid is profitable in terms of net income and cash flow. Even though the stock is not quite big enough to reach the low end of the mid-cap category, Connell said she likes it well enough to rate the rising small cap as her top choice in both groups.

“Its operating cash flow has been positive for the past three years,” Connell said. “Like most biotechnology stocks, Avid had negative performance in 2022. However, this year the stock is up over 20%. As the company is still cheap on a price-to-earnings as well as price-to-sales basis, I believe the stock has additional upside of 10 to 20% in the next 12 months.”

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Connell counseled not to buy a full investment position in Avid in any rush amid current market weakness.

She predicted there will be opportunities to add to positions, Connell said.

Micro-Cap Pharmaceutical Stocks Offer Another Way to Invest in the Industry

Another way to invest in biopharmaceuticals is through micro-cap stocks. That is the niche of futurist George Gilder’s Moonshots advisory service, which intentionally limits its circulation to enhance its exclusivity. The Moonshots track record has been sterling as an outperforming advisory service that may have a new pharmaceutical pick soon after Gilder and Senior Analyst Richard Vigilante recently returned from a trip to Israel to conduct due diligence on prospective investments.

In face, my stock column next week will feature small- cap pharmaceutical stocks, but investors interested in micro-cap alternatives may appreciate knowing Moonshots’ portfolio companies jumped an average of 84%, double the gains of the NASDAQ, from July 2019 to February 2023, counting only closed positions. I have requested an further information from globe-trotting Gilder and his team as they seek out companies developing the kinds of new paradigms that investors crave.

Wagner Mercenary Boss Blames Russia for Not Providing Enough Ammunition

The head of Russia’s Wagner private army complained in recent days that his soldiers are not receiving the needed ammunition to gain control of Bakhmut, a fiercely contested city in eastern Ukraine. Wagner’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was quoted as saying his army’s inadequate ammunition supply could be due to bureaucracy or a ‘betrayal.”

Russian forces have yet to surround the city, Ukrainian officials said. Civilians there reportedly number in the thousands and are mostly cut off from humanitarian relief.

Russia has absorbed more combat deaths in Ukraine during its first year of war than in all its wars combined since the end of World War II, according to research from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The average number of Russian troops killed per month is 25 times the number per month in Chechnya and 35 times those killed in Afghanistan.

“The Ukrainian military has also performed remarkably well against a much larger and initially better-equipped Russian military, in part due to the innovation of its forces,” the CSIS wrote.

Xi Voices Hostility After FBI Chief Says COVID-19 Likely Came from Lab in China

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and his new Foreign Minister Qin Gang accused U.S. leaders in recent days of suppressing China’s development and creating conflict between the two countries. The criticism came after FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday, Feb. 28, that COVID-19 likely leaked out of a laboratory in China. It marked the first public opinion of that kind from the FBI about the origins of the virus that caused a global pandemic.

“The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” Wray told Fox News. “Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab.”

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths rose to 6,881,955 people, with total cases of 676,609,955, Johns Hopkins University reported on March 10, its last day of collecting data about the pandemic after three years of round-the-clock tracking. COVID-19 cases in the United States totaled 103,804,263, while deaths reached 1,123,836 as of March 10, according to Johns Hopkins University. Until recent reports that China had more than 248 million cases of COVID-19, America had ranked as the country with the most coronavirus cases and deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 269,650,596 people, or 81.2% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of March 8. People who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 230,142,115 of the U.S. population, or 69.3%, according to the CDC. The United States has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 50,821,425 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 19.7% as of March 8.

The three dividend-paying pharmaceutical funds to buy provide income and some protection from the big bank failure, Russia’s raging invasion of Ukraine, elevated inflation and recession risk. The three dividend-paying pharmaceutical funds may attract investors seeking exposure to drug companies that provide medications that are needed regardless of a bank collapse, Russia’s war and economic uncertainty.

Four dividend-paying pharmaceutical stocks to buy for income provide protection from market plunges and Russia’s risk-filled war against Ukraine.

The four dividend-paying pharmaceutical stocks to buy feature U.S-based large-cap investments. Pharmaceutical stocks usually show resilience against inflation and market risk due to the continuing need for their products by the consumers who use need them.

Investors who want exposure to pharmaceuticals, including biopharmaceuticals, can choose from several ETFs, said Bob Carlson, who serves as chairman of a pension fund and also writes the Retirement Watch investment newsletter. Carlson chose two funds to highlight in addition to the four dividend-paying pharmaceutical stocks to buy for income.

Bob Carlson, head of Retirement Watch, talks to Paul Dykewicz.

ETF Shows Upward Trend Lifting Four Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy

First Trust Nasdaq Pharmaceuticals (FTXH) has earned higher returns over time compared to an alternative ETF, but it is the more volatile of the two choices, Carlson said. The fund generally holds smaller companies that are trading at lower valuations, compared to the portfolios of competing pharmaceutical ETFs, he added.

“As a result, the companies owned by the fund tend to have lower dividends and stock buybacks than others in the industry,” Carlson said.

In addition, FTXH is a concentrated fund. Recently, the ETF held 30 positions and had 58% of the fund in the 10 largest positions. The portfolio can change rapidly, with the ETF having a 77% turnover rate in the last year, Carlson counseled.

Top holdings recently were Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), Bristol-Meyers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN). The fund had a 2.55% return in 2022.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Four Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy Aside from Funds

A more conservative fund than FTXH is iShares U.S. Pharmaceuticals (IHE). The fund aims to track the Dow Jones U.S. Select Pharmaceuticals Index. Because it tries to mirror an index, IHE has a lower turnover ratio of only 20% compared to FTXH.

IHE recently had 48 positions and 74% of its portfolio was composed of its 10 largest positions. Top holdings were Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Catalent (NYSE: CTLT), Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) and Viatris (NASDAQ: VTRS).

The fund declined 4.87% in 2022. It is down so far this year but expected to rise again by year-end.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Pfizer Omitted from Four Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy

New York-based Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) proved to be a strong, dividend-paying investment from December 2015 to July 2021 when Mark Skousen, PhD, recommended it in his Forecasts and Strategies investment newsletter. The stock rose 54.76% during that pandemic-afflicted time.

One of the first pharmaceutical companies to have its COVID-19 vaccine approved, Pfizer’s share price rose during the pandemic. However, Skousen, who also leads the Five Star Trader advisory service that features stocks and options, spotted weakness in the stock and the market when he recommended taking profits.

Mark Skousen, a scion of Ben Franklin and head of Five Star Trader, meets Paul Dykewicz.

The strategy paid off and he has not returned to recommending the stock since then. A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine on Feb. 28 to advance it toward approval to become one of the initial approved injections for older adults in the United States. However, the 7-4 advisory committee vote was not overwhelming, and one panelist abstained. The majority of the experts concluded the shot was effective and safe in preventing lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV in people 60 years old and up.

Four Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy Include Bristol Myers Squibb

New York-based Bristol Myers Squibb is a large-cap pharmaceutical stock recommended by BofA Global Research. The investment bank gave the stock a price target of $80.

The valuation used a 50/50 blended average of BofA’s risk-adjusted Discounted Cash Flow Analysis and price-to-earnings multiple applied to 2023 earnings per share (EPS). A 10x multiple is warranted, compared with 18x the pharmaceutical industry average, equaling a near-term growth profile and discounted for an “impending patent cliff” already priced in by the market, BofA added.

BMY shares outperformed in 2022, rising 15% compared to a 20% decline in the S&P 500. The market beat stemmed from commercial and pipeline progress, as well as a shift in investor sentiment to defensive names in Biopharmaceuticals, BofA wrote.

“In our view, Bristol should get credit for launching three first-in-class products in 2022, including Opdualag, Camzyos and Sotyktu, marking a total of nine new launches since 2019,” BofA wrote in a recent research note.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Eli Lilly Joins Four Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly is another BofA recommendation among large-cap pharmaceutical stocks. The investment firm gave it a $390 price objective.

Lilly’s gains remain “differentiated” with a 2022-25 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13% in revenue and 26% in earnings per share (EPS), while its peer stocks incurred a 1% dip in revenue and a 4% gain in EPS during the same period, BofA wrote. The outperformance is due mainly to a robust new product cycle that makes LLY shares a core growth holding for certain investors.

Given the complexities of five new launches in the near-term, featuring donanemab, pirtobrutinib, mirikizumab, lebrikizumab and tirzepatide in obesity, BofA wrote that it expects Lilly’s strategy of focusing on pipeline and commercial execution to pay off. The effort is supported by meaningful increases in research and development (R&D) and selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses. As of 2027, these products are expected to make up more than 20% of the company’s revenue forecast.

To account for a $390 price objective, BofA uses a sum-of-the parts net present value (NPV) analysis. The investment bank values its endocrinology franchise at $212 per share, oncology at $87 per share, cardiovascular at $5 per share, neuroscience at $23 per share, immunology at $20 share, its product pipeline at $54 per share and its net cash position at -$12 per share.

Lilly gained some favorable publicity this week by announcing price cuts that would slash the amount consumers pay for the most commonly used forms of its insulin by 70%. Company officials said on March 1 that Lilly will cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 for people who have private insurance and use participating pharmacies.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Merck Makes List of Four Dividend-paying Four Pharmaceutical Investments to Buy

Merck, of Rahway, New Jersey, had the best 2022 performance of all U.S. pharmaceuticals, BofA wrote in a research note. The beat was driven by strong commercial performance from the core business, i.e., Keytruda and Gardasil, BofA added.

“Looking to 2023, we are optimistic that Merck’s strong commercial execution could drive continued revenue growth of $58.5 billion vs. $58.0 billion consensus, +7% year over year growth, excluding Lagevrio,” BofA wrote. “We have upgraded to Buy from Neutral with a $130 price objective.”

That marks a $20 jump in BofA’s previous price objective. Even though Merck’s business faces a “no growth” outlook in 2023, it is not a reason to avoid the stock at the right price.

That is the view expressed by Michelle Connell, who heads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Michelle Connell leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Connell Praises One of Four Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy

“The company’s stock has appreciated more than 50% in the last 12 months,” Connell said. “However, based on the following information, it would make sense to dollar-cost average for potential capital appreciation and the current dividend.”

However, Merck’s management team always has been “smart” in how much it wants to invest in R&D and in its “bright and multi-faceted future,” Connell continued. Merck has invested in its future through large allocations to R&D, she added.

In both 2021 and 2022, the company allocated more than 20% of its gross revenues to R&D. This investment has resulted in the strongest oncology pipeline in the pharmaceutical industry, Connell commented.

This pipeline will let the company replace its dependence on Keytruda and Gardasil, both of which have patents expiring in 2028, Connell told me.

Merck generated more than $14 billion of free cash flow from its operations last year. This large amount of cash will allow the company to not only keep funding its R&D, continue paying out a healthy dividend, but keep scouting for acquisitions that make sense and can complement the pharmaceuticals coming up through its current pipeline.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

JNJ Joins Four Dividend-paying Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy

The fourth dividend-paying pharmaceutical stock to buy is Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), of New Brunswick, N.J. Bryan Perry, a seasoned Wall Street trader, has recommended JNJ call options in his Breakout Options Alert advisory service.

Bryan Perry leads the Breakout Options Alert service.

The U.S. dollar endured a meaningful decline during the fourth quarter, which is a huge positive signal for U.S. multinational companies. For companies in essential sectors, such as health care and pharmaceuticals, Perry opined that they will not only post strong fourth-quarter results but also will guide higher nearing the end of the current first quarter.

JNJ is a trusted Dow Jones component that traded up to $180 in mid-January before pulling back in favor of money that was rotating to the big-cap growth stocks. At its current price below $155, the pullback is attractive and constructive for the stock to forge higher sooner or later.

The chart of JNJ shows a steep pullback that should be followed by a strong move higher, said Perry, who also heads the Cash Machine investment newsletter. With the stock pulling back since the start of 2023, it realistically could rebound in the months ahead and provide for a high-return/low-risk trade, he added.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Micro-Cap Pharmaceutical Stocks Offer Alternative Way to Invest

Another way to invest in biopharmaceuticals is through micro-cap stocks. That is the niche of futurist George Gilder’s Moonshots advisory service, which intentionally limits its circulation to enhance its exclusivity. The Moonshots track record has been shining as an outperforming advisory service that may have a new pharmaceutical pick soon after Gilder and Senior Analyst Richard Vigilante just returned from Israel to conduct due diligence on potential investments.

My column next week will feature mid-cap pharmaceutical stocks, but investors interested in micro-cap alternatives may want to know Moonshots’ portfolio companies jumped an average of 84%, double the gains of the NASDAQ, from July 2019 to February 2023, counting only closed positions. I am trying to obtain direct input from Gilder and his team next week as they seek out companies developing the kinds of new paradigms that investors crave.

Russia Troops Pound Bakmut in Eastern Ukraine, But Incur Drone Strikes

Russian forces keep pounding Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, but the city still is not surrounded, Ukrainian officials said. Civilians there reportedly number in the thousands and are mostly cut off from humanitarian relief.

However, drone strikes hit targets on Russian soil on Feb. 28. President Vladimir Putin ordered tightened control of the Ukraine border after a flurry of drone attacks hit regions inside Russia, include one just 60 miles from Moscow.

Russia has absorbed more combat deaths in Ukraine during its first year of war than in all its wars combined since the end of World War II, according to new research from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The average number of Russian troops killed per month is 25 times the number killed per month in Chechnya and 35 times those killed in Afghanistan.

The death toll for Russian soldiers shows the high casualty rate of a war of attrition that Russia seems to be pursuing as it sends waves of troops to front lines to sustain its invasion of Ukraine to seize land that the United Nations describes as a blatant violation of international law.

“The Ukrainian military has also performed remarkably well against a much larger and initially better-equipped Russian military, in part due to the innovation of its forces,” the CSIS wrote.

FBI Director Says COVID-19 Probably Escaped from Lab in China

FBI Director Christopher Wray left little room for doubt when he spoke Tuesday, Feb. 28, saying that COVID-19 likely leaked out of a laboratory in China. It marked the first public opinion of that kind from the FBI about the origins of the virus that caused a global pandemic.

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths rose to 6,871,652 people, with total cases of 675,299,609, Johns Hopkins reported on March 1. COVID-19 cases in the United States totaled 103,420,826, while deaths reached 1,119,885 as of March 1, according to Johns Hopkins University. Until recent reports that China had more than 248 million cases of COVID-19, America had ranked as the nation with the most coronavirus cases and deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 269,554,116 people, or 81.2% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of March 1. People who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 230,075,934 of the U.S. population, or 69.3%, according to the CDC. The United States has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 50,544,428 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 19.6% as of March 1.

The four dividend-paying pharmaceutical stocks to buy as protection should hold up better than the overall market, as occurred in 2022. Pharmaceutical investments may offer an elixir for investors seeking exposure to an industry that analysts expect to recover later this year.

Five dividend-paying agricultural investments to buy as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin glorifies war against neighboring Ukraine highlight a U.S.-based potato grower, an exchange-traded fund, the world’s largest farm equipment manufacturer, a tractor supply company and a fertilizer business.

The five dividend-paying agricultural investments to buy provide ways to profit amid Putin’s latest verbal threats and military actions from Russia against Ukraine and attacks on the latter nation as a supplier of precious grain to Europe and elsewhere in the world. Feb. 24 is the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, killing at least 8,000 non-combatants and injuring nearly 13,300 civilians, according to United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) data. The true numbers most likely are substantially higher but they are difficult to document, OHCHR staffers have said.

Before Russia launched its invasion of its neighboring nation in February 2022, Ukraine had been one of the world’s largest grain producers, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Ukraine provided for nearly 15% of global exports of wheat, maize and barley in 2021, while exporting 6% of all food calories globally.

People in the Middle East, as well as North and Eastern Africa, are dependent on Ukrainian exports. Russia’s continued war against Ukraine is forecast to leave 13 million people in chronic hunger worldwide through 2023, almost double the figure of seven million people from before the onslaught began a year ago, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

The UN, a leader in international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security, blames most of the problem on supply-chain disruptions caused by the war. To mitigate the hunger crisis and preserve a critical part of Ukraine’s economy, the European Union (EU) established EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes to aid the shipment of Ukrainian agricultural products to markets. The initiative preceded the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative to spur food and agriculture exports from Ukraine.

Courtesy of www.StockRover.com. Learn about Stock Rover by clicking here.

Five Dividend-paying Agricultural Investments to Buy: Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LW), of Eagle, Idaho, grows and supplies potatoes. The company specifically delivers frozen potato, sweet potato, appetizer and vegetable products to restaurants and retailers worldwide. For 60-plus years, Lamb Weston has introduced distinctive products to more than 100 countries.

The company has manufacturing operations in the Pacific Northwest, primarily in the Columbia River Basin, possibly the world’s best potato-growing region. Lamb Weston employs more than 7,000 people worldwide in sales offices, manufacturing plants and corporate offices.

BofA gave Lamb Weston Holdings a price target of $115, a premium to the packaged food index. The investment firm wrote that the higher valuation compared to it peer stocks is warranted, since Lamb Weston is poised to approach pre-COVID levels with positive demand trends and margin potential in fiscal year 2023 and 2024.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Lamb Weston May Roar Like a Lion

Reasons why Lamb Weston could top its $115 price target include demand rebounding faster than expected and category growth staying above 3% with tight industry supply expected to continue in the medium- to long-term. Tight supply lets providers hike prices to both global and food service customers, BofA wrote.

Risks to reaching the $115 price target include bigger-than-expected potato costs, unforeseen problems raising prices to cover inflation and support margins, any influx of new industry capacity and a slowdown in on-premise sales if consumers face curtailed spending power.

Bryan Perry, the leader of the Cash Machine investment newsletter and the Breakout Options Alert trading service, recommended Lamb Weston call options in the latter, options-only service. The related stock has jumped 12.59% so far this year and the options are up even more, as of the close on Feb. 24.

Paul Dykewicz interviews Wall Street veteran Bryan Perry, of Breakout Options Alert.

Five Dividend-paying Agricultural Investments to Buy: DBA

Investors who eye exposure to agricultural stocks can invest in industry commodities through Invesco DB Agriculture (DBA), an exchange-traded fund (ETF), said Bob Carlson, a pension fund chairman who also heads the Retirement Watch investment newsletter. The ETF seeks to track changes in the DBIQ Diversified Agriculture Index Excess Return. The fund earns interest income from cash it invests primarily in U.S. Treasury securities, as well as money market investments, while holding them as collateral for the futures contracts.

Bob Carlson, head of Retirement Watch, talks to Paul Dykewicz.

The fund is aimed at those who want a cost-effective and convenient way to invest in commodity futures. The Index is rules-based and composed of futures contracts on some of the most liquid and widely traded agricultural commodities. DBA and the Index are rebalanced and reconstituted each November.

Top holdings and percentages of the fund, as of Feb. 17, were sugar, 13.4%; live cattle, 12.63%; coffee, 12.23%; soybeans, 12.16%; corn, 11.77%; cocoa, 11.68%; and wheat, 11.29%. The fund’s total expense ratio is 0.91%, but its share price has risen 2.63% so far in 2023 through the market’s close on Feb. 17.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

222 Million People Face High Acute Food Insecurity

“Across the world, 222 million people are experiencing high acute food insecurity, almost one in five of whom are struggling to access enough food to survive the day,” according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Extreme weather, such as droughts and floods, war in Ukraine and proliferation of other conflicts, along with growing uncertainty about global food and agriculture markets, put acute food insecurity at new highs, the UN reported. As 2022 neared an end, almost one million people faced “immediate threat of starvation” — roughly double the numbers of 2021.

“In the Horn of Africa alone, struggling with an unprecedented drought — an event not seen in 40 years — between 23 and 26 million people are projected to be in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, and acute food insecurity is expected to continue intensifying by February 2023,” the UN found.

The world is enduring an “anticipated, unprecedented sixth consecutive season of drought,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization found. Further fallout comes from a steady rise in the cost of food since the onset of COVID-19, with international food commodity prices hitting a 10-year high, the UN noted.

That occurred before the war in Ukraine sent further shockwaves through the food supply system, according to the UN. While prices in international staple foods have fallen recently, consumer prices remain high, with significant implications for the poorest people seeking to purchase power and food, the agency noted.

“Conflicts and political instability continue to ravage lives and livelihoods across the world, forcing people to flee their homes and abandon their farms, boats, livestock — pushing them into destitution and total reliance on external assistance,” the UN reported.

Five Dividend-paying Agricultural Investments to Buy: Deere

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE), of Moline, Illinois, is the world’s largest producer of agricultural equipment. The company has manufactured agricultural machinery since 1837 under the iconic John Deere brand, displaying its signature green and yellow color scheme.

The agricultural business has been highly fertile for Deere. The company reported first-quarter net income of $1.959 billion, or $6.55 per share, for the period ended Jan. 29, driven by a 34% gain in net sales from the same quarter the prior year. Net income in the same quarter the year before was less than half, totaling $903 million, or $2.92 per share.

Net sales at Deere for the quarter ending Jan. 29 reached $11.402 billion, compared with $8.531 billion in 2022. Deere’s management team spoke of a current market environment supported by positive business fundamentals and healthy demand for farm and construction equipment.

For the first quarter ended January 29, 2023, Worldwide net sales and revenues increased 32%, to $12.652 billion. Another positive sign was enhanced guidance from Deere’s management for 2023, with a full-year net income forecast to reach $8.75 billion-$9.25 billion.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Ben Franklin Scion Praises Deere as One of Five Dividend-paying Agricultural Investments to Buy

“Deere’s first-quarter performance is a reflection of favorable market fundamentals and healthy demand for our equipment, as well as solid execution on the part of our employees, dealers and suppliers to get products to our customers,” said John C. May, chairman and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement when the company reported its latest financial results. “We are, at the same time, benefiting from an improved operating environment, which is contributing to higher levels of production.”

The company has upheld a rising dividend policy since 1988, and it most recently boosted its payout on Dec. 29, said Mark Skousen, PhD, who recently recommended the stock in his Five Star Trader advisory service for those who want to invest in both stocks and options. He also heads the Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter that focuses exclusively on stocks and selected funds.

Trading under 16 times forward earnings, Deere has a return on equity (ROE) of 37%. According to Zacks Research, Wall Street estimates have been rising recently, with earnings growth expected to increase by 20% during fiscal year 2023.

Skousen recommended Deere & Co. in January to his Five Star Trader subscribers and set a protective stop. For those willing to take increased risk to pursue significantly enlarged potential profits, Skousen also recommended specific call options in Deere, which can ascend much faster than the stock price.

Mark Skousen, a scion of Ben Franklin and head of Five Star Trader, meets Paul Dykewicz.

Skousen Drove a Deere Tractor Growing Up on a Farm

Skousen recalls driving a Deere tractor while growing up on a 50-acre farm outside Portland, Oregon. The key role of farming is rewarding but requires much hard work, Skousen said.

Other fans of Deere are BofA Global Research, as well as Michelle Connell, who heads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management. Deere has done an “excellent job” supporting its stock price by repurchasing 25% of its shares outstanding in the past 10 years, Connell counseled.

“These don’t bother me,” Connell counseled. “Executives frequently have tight windows for the sales of their shares, and estate planning also may be part of the executives’ strategy. I like DE because it takes advantage of the fact that that as a population increases, the demand for affordable food increases as well.”

Michelle Connell leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Five Dividend-paying Agricultural Investments to Buy: Tractor Supply

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO), of Brentwood, Tennessee, sells products for agriculture, lawn and garden maintenance, home improvement, livestock, equine and pet care for recreational farmers and ranchers, pet owners and landowners. The stock received a buy recommendation and a $260 price objective from BofA Global Research, which wrote a research note late last month listing TSCO as one of 11 top buys for investors in 2023. TSCO was the one and only pick for the list from the consumer discretionary sector.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

An “Open House” held by Tractor Supply for the investment community in Nashville, Tennessee, on Jan. 30-31, included a store tour of the company’s new Project Fusion and side lot format. BofA is predicting that Tractor Supply will step up its expansion into the lawn and garden arena to keep the company’s revenue growth “chugging along” in 2023 and beyond, BofA added. Tractor Supply is rated as BofA’s top consumer discretionary stock for 2023.

“Our surveys suggest that lawn and garden is the most popular category within consumers’ medium-term home improvement plans,” BofA wrote in its research note.

Tractor Supply’s product mix of primarily non-discretionary products, such as livestock & pet supplies, hardware/tools/truck supplies and workwear, leaves the retailer less vulnerable to the pullback in spending endured by many retailers in recent months, BofA wrote. The largest U.S. operator of retail farm and ranch stores differentiates itself through its broad product lines that span multiple industries focused on rural buyers.

“TSCO is a growth company with opportunities to improve margins over time,” BofA wrote. “We now view TSCO’s valuation as attractive, as investment positives do not appear fully priced in.”

The stock could beat its price objective with significant economic improvement in its core rural markets, stronger-than-expected comparable growth aiding operating margins, increasing the company’s store additions above current plans and price and gross margin inflation of its products. Risks that may prevent the stock from attaining the price target set by BofA are stepped-up reinvestment, inability to offset wage inflation, a slow-down in demand for discretionary rural lifestyle products and increased competition from mass merchants and online retailers in TSCO’s core markets.

Five Dividend-paying Agricultural Investments to Buy: Mosaic

Amid a tight potash market, pure-play fertilizer giant Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) is another of the top 11 stock recommendations for 2023 by BofA Global Research. As a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Mosaic specializes in mining phosphate, potash and urea. The company is the largest U.S. producer of potash and phosphate fertilizer, operating through business segments such as international distribution and Mosaic Fertilizantes.

BofA chose Mosaic for a place among 11 top stocks aligned with its 2023 themes that include quality, value, free cash flow generation, domestic vs. global exposure and dividend growth potential. The list also targets stocks that show earnings resilience to guard against an expected recession. The investment firm seeks either top-down strength and/or margin stability.

Jim Woods recommended Mosaic call options to subscribers of his High Velocity Options advisory service for 14 days last year. Subscribers who followed his guidance and bought and sold when he recommended were able to produce a profit of 124%. That triple-digit-percentage gain exemplifies how options can be huge huge money makers.

Paul Dykewicz meets with Jim Woods, head of Bullseye Stock Trader.

Patriotic Americans may like the idea of supporting Mosaic as a competitor to Russian fertilizer companies. Russia is a big producer of potash, a key crop nutrient that is used in agricultural production.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Russia’s War Against Ukraine Intensifies

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin appeared on domestic television in his state-of-the-nation address on Tuesday, Feb. 21, declaring his countrymen who are going to the battle fronts in Ukraine are acting heroically and he will not relent in his invasion of Ukraine. Putin, whose words and deeds seem to be an attempt to glorify the war he launched against Ukraine and vowed to press forward indefinitely. He still calls his country’s attack of Ukraine a “special military operation” but now claims the West began the raging conflict, even though he ordered 200,000 troops into his neighboring nation in violation of international law.

Putin announced he is suspending his country’s participation in the New START treaty — the last nuclear arms control pact remaining with the United States. President Joe Biden acknowledged in a statement on Tuesday, Feb. 21, that Russia’s war created global economic disruptions but that the United States and its allies have adopted initiatives to stabilize food supplies and energy markets.

“We supported our partners as they opened their homes and communities to millions of Ukrainians seeking refuge,” Biden said.

The United States is delivering critical equipment, including artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems and air surveillance radars to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments, President Biden said.

Biden also said he would announce additional sanctions against Russian elites and companies that are trying to evade or backfill the country’s “war machine.” The United States has built a coalition of nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific to help defend Ukraine with unprecedented military, economic and humanitarian support — and the “support will endure,” Biden added.

President Biden traveled to Poland on Feb. 22 to meet President Duda and the leaders of America’s Eastern Flank Allies, as well as delivered remarks on how the United States will continue to rally the world to support the people of Ukraine and the core values of human rights and dignity in the UN Charter.

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Feb. 23 to back a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, called for the attacking nation to withdraw its forces completely and halt fighting. The motion gained approval from 141 nations, with 32 abstaining and just seven — including Russia — opposing. Last year, the UN condemned Russia’s attempts to annex four regions of eastern Ukraine. That UN resolution was supported by 143 countries, while 35 states, including China and India, abstained.

The five dividend-paying agricultural investments to buy have been spared from fallout of ferocious fighting in Bakhmut, Ukraine, where Russian forces seek to seize control of a key highway and a key transportation route. Russian airborne units have joined Wagner mercenary fighters in battling for the city.

Diabetes Increases Risk of Severe COVID, Report Indicates

On Feb. 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first combined test for flu and COVID-19 that can be used at home to give consumers a way to assess if a runny nose is caused by either disease. The Lucira COVID-19 & Flue Home test can be purchased without a prescription and uses self-collected nasal swab samples to produce results in roughly 30 minutes, the FDA added.

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths rose to 6,864,223 people, with total cases of 674,266,379, Johns Hopkins reported on Feb. 21. COVID-19 cases in the United States totaled 103,168,534, while deaths reached 1,117,820 as of Feb. 21, according to Johns Hopkins University. Until recent reports that China had more than 248 million cases of COVID-19, America had ranked as the nation with the most coronavirus cases and deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 269,459,752 people, or 81.2% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of Feb. 23. People who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 229,996,296 of the U.S. population, or 69.2%, according to the CDC. The United States has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 50,271,843 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 19.5% as of Feb. 15, compared to 19.3% last week, 19.2% on Feb. 8, 19% on Feb. 1 and 18.8% as of Jan. 26.

The five dividend-paying agricultural investments to buy display resilience while other sectors struggle to reb3und from sagging share prices in 2022. Agricultural investments help to supply good for people worldwide and offer humanitarian value, along with a path to pursue profits.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, Guru Focus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Special Holiday Offer: Paul is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The uplifting book is great gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for special pricing on multiple-book purchases.

Five dividend-paying food investments to purchase for propelling portfolios feature a food and beverage fund, a potato provider, a chocolate maker, the owner of Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats, a cheese and ketchup conglomerate, and a provider of premium sauces.

The ongoing war in Ukraine is not stopping any of the food stocks from floating above the market mayhem. People still need to eat, so cutbacks typically come from other products and services.

Grain exports from Ukraine are down significantly, with Russia inflicting a barrage of missile attacks in multiple regions of Ukraine during the last 24 hours that included one hitting the much smaller nation’s biggest oil refinery. The number of reservists Russia is sending to front lines to prepare for an expected offensive this spring has been surging, along with land attacks across eastern and southern Ukraine, endangering and sometimes killing farmers in the region who remain.

BofA Global Research follows the industry closely and four of the five investments to purchase for propelling portfolios are on its list of recommendations. Here are the highlights of each of the five dividend-paying food investments to purchase.

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Five Dividend-paying Food Investments to Purchase: PBJ Leads Off

Investors seeking exposure in the food industry can tap Invesco Dynamic Food & Beverage (PBJ), said Bob Carlson, a pension fund chairman who also leads the Retirement Watch investment newsletter that recommends a variety of strategically selected portfolios. The fund aims to track the Dynamic Food & Beverage Intellidex Index. The index typically has 30 stocks of companies that are mainly engaged in the manufacture, distribution, or sale of products in the food and beverage, agricultural and new food technologies.

The index has frequent changes and selects securities using price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action and value. Turnover in the fund is about 98%.

Bob Carlson, pension chairman and Retirement Watch, talks to Paul Dykewicz.

Top holdings in the fund recently were Hershey (NYSE: HSY), Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ: KHC), PepsiCo ((NASDAQ: PEP), General Mills (NYSE: GIS) and Keurig Dr. Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP). About 45% of the fund is in its 10 largest positions.

The fund’s dividend yield is around 1.8%, while its share price has jumped 5.28% in the last 12 months. PBJ is up 0.45% for the past three months and 1.27% in the week.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Five Dividend-paying Food Investments to Purchase: Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LW), of Eagle, Idaho, supplies frozen potato, sweet potato, appetizer and vegetable products to restaurants and retailers worldwide. For more than 60 years, Lamb Weston has introduced uniquely presented products to more than 100 countries.

The company has manufacturing operations in the Pacific Northwest, primarily in the Columbia River Basin, arguably the world’s best potato-growing region. Lamb Weston employs more than 7,000 people worldwide in sales offices, manufacturing plants and corporate offices.

BofA gave Lamb Weston Holdings a price target of $115, a premium to the packaged food index. The investment firm wrote that the higher valuation compared to peer companies is warranted, since Lamb Weston is poised to approach pre-COVID levels with favorable demand trends and margin potential in fiscal year 2023 and 2024.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Can Lamb Weston Roar Like a Lion?

Reasons why Lamb Weston could top its $115 price target include demand rebounding faster than expected and category growth staying above 3% with tight industry supply expected to continue in the medium- to long-term. Tight supply permits providers to hike prices to both global and food service customers, BofA wrote.

Risks to reaching the $115 price target include higher-than-expected potato costs, unforeseen problems propelling price increases to cover inflation and restore margins, any influx of new industry capacity and a slowdown in on-premise sales activity if consumers face reduced spending power.

Paul Dykewicz interviews Bryan Perry, who heads Breakout Options Alert.

Bryan Perry, the leader of the Cash Machine investment newsletter and the Breakout Options Alert trading service, recommended Lamb Weston call options in the latter service. The stock is up 12.76% so far this year, as of the close on Feb. 17.

Five Dividend-paying Food Investments to Purchase Include Hershey

BofA also recommended The Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY), setting a $270 price target. With some slack in capacity, Hershey is better positioned now than in recent years to meet demand increases if needed, BofA wrote in a research note.

For fiscal year 2023 guidance, HSY provided perspective on sales, pricing and inflation, causing BofA to write that it did not expect much surprise one way or another about the company’s earnings. Hershey is executing on its pricing actions and has seen lower-than-expected elasticities across its portfolio as consumers continue to spend on sweet treats and snacks in an inflationary environment, BofA wrote.

“In addition, HSY has been able to maintain share in its categories with the lowest private label exposure in its peer set,” BofA continued.

Potential outperformance could come from continued market share gains in a low private label exposure environment, faster moderation of inflation, low elasticity of demand persisting and volume gains offsetting any pricing decelerations, BofA opined. Possible risks to reaching the price target include elevated inflation taking longer than expected to taper off, competitors grabbing market share from HSY and negative surprises on packaging, logistics or special ingredient costs that aren’t traditionally hedged by Hershey.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Jim Woods, who leads the Bullseye Stock Trader advisory service and the Intelligence Report investment newsletter, is not currently recommending Hershey but has done so in the past. Woods features an Income Multipliers portfolio in his newsletter that seeks to identify stocks on the ascent that pay dividends just like Hershey.

Paul Dykewicz meets with Jim Woods, head of Bullseye Stock Trader.

Woods, who openly acknowledges his fondness for quality food and drinks, likes to use his personal preferences in choosing the stocks he recommends. As Hershey is a stock Woods has recommended in the past, he may do so again.

PepsiCo Fits With Five Dividend-paying Food Investments to Purchase

PepsiCo is a major beverage company that also owns the Frito-Lay brand of snack foods and Quaker Oats. BoA put a $205 price target on PepsiCo, along with a buy recommendation.

“We expect PEP is set up for another quarter of strong organic sales growth, modeling 4Q22 organic sales growth of +8%,” BofA wrote.

PepsiCo is valued at a premium to its non-alcoholic-beverage peers that is “justified” based on the view that the stock is positioned to deliver against its long-term algorithm and return cash to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases, the investment firm wrote.

Pluses for PepsiCo include low-to-moderate foreign exchange headwinds, growth opportunities and improving volume/price/mix in soft drinks. Risks to reaching the price target come from foreign exchange becoming a drag on results and Frito-Lay North America incurring a decline in volumes due to price hikes.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Connell Cites Growing Food Revenue in Ascent of Pepsi

Michelle Connell leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Pepsi is a world-class competitor in the snack and convenience food category, Connell said. The U.S. snack market is valued at $115 billion and Pepsi currently has 20% share, she added.

With 55% of sales coming from snack and convenience foods, Pepsi’s leaders know that food is one of the keys to the company’s success, Connell said.

To make sure that it holds its ranking in this segment, Pepsi is investing in the innovation of its snacks, Connell said. In 2020, Pepsi created a growth office for its snack products.

Pepsi is researching different ingredients, packaging formats and flavors to enhance its presence in the category, said Parth Raval, chief growth officer for PepsiCo Foods North America, comprising Frito-Lay North America, Quaker Foods North America and PepsiCo Foods Canada. The company has found that consumers increasingly are turning to snacks instead of full meals.

“Families are frequently so busy that a traditional sit-down meal is not an option,” Connell said. “Pepsi is trying to appeal to this behavioral change.”

For example, consumers now eat Quaker granola bars outside of breakfast. Also, a line of “Tostitos Toppers” was created to take advantage of this behavior, Connell counseled.

Pepsi further created two direct-to-consumer websites for its snacks. One of these is Snacks.com. These online options allow a consumer to find flavors or brands that may not be easily found on store shelves.

An example of an unusual new flavor is Southern Biscuit & Gravy Lays Potato Chips, Connell said. They are sold at most Southern gas stations, she added.

Pepsi Pumps up Dividend Payout 10%

Pepsi announced a 10% boost in its dividend payout when it released its fourth-quarter financial results on Feb. 9. The quarterly dividend rose to $1.265, marking the 51st year in a row that Pepsi has raised its payout.

Pepsi continued its streak of consistently beating Wall Street expectations with its latest financial results. Organic revenue grew 14% in North America and 16% in international markets, Connell said.

Price hikes to consumers drove Pepsi’s revenue growth, not an increase in sales volume, Connell continued. The company’s chief executive officer said there is no near-term intention of further price increases, but recent price hikes will not be cut in the future.

Five Dividend-paying Food Investments to Purchase: Kraft Heinz

BofA gave Chicago-based Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) a buy rating and a $48 price objective. The valuation is below the packaged food group average but the investment firm wrote at-home food consumption remains elevated as consumers show sensitivity to the higher cost of eating out.

KHC could outperform expectations with continued improvement in market share trends and services levels, topline strength driving organic sales growth and pricing strength protecting margins. Another plus could come from quicker-than-expected tapering in inflation.

Risks that could hurt the stock price performance include high inflation persisting longer than expected and pressuring margins and consumers trading down to buy private label products, BofA wrote. If demand elasticities worsen while pricing simultaneously tapers off, organic sales growth could be “sandbagged,” BofA wrote.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Intensifies

The five dividend-paying food investments to purchase have been spared from fallout of the ferocious fighting taking place in Bakhmut, Ukraine, where Russian forces are seeking to seize control of a key highway and a key transportation route. Russian airborne units have joined Wagner mercenary fighters in the battle for the city.

Russia’s troops have been “leveling Bakhmut to the ground, killing everyone they can reach,” Pavlo Kyrylenko, a Ukrainian prosecutor and politician who also is the current Governor of Donetsk Oblast, wrote on Telegram. Russia claimed to have captured a village just to north of Bakhmut as attempts to surround the city and seize control.

The U.S. State Department accused Russia of violating a key nuclear arms agreement by refusing to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities. The only agreement left to regulate the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia is the New START treaty, but inspections have been on hold since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diabetes Increases Risk of Severe COVID, Report Indicates

Diabetics who have high blood sugar levels face a significantly greater risk of being hospitalized with severe illness from COVID-19, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. the Federation reported “poor glycemic control was a risk factor for adverse COVID-19 endpoints.”

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths rose to 6,862,140 people, with total cases of 673,850,285, Johns Hopkins reported on Feb. 17. COVID-19 cases in the United States totaled 103,121,205, while deaths reached 1,117,482 as of Feb. 17, according to Johns Hopkins University. Until recent reports that China had more than 248 million cases of COVID-19, America had ranked as the nation with the most coronavirus cases and deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 269,332,266 people, or 81.1% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of Feb. 15. People who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 229,914,797 of the U.S. population, or 69.2%, according to the CDC. The United States has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 49,932,850 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 19.3% as of Feb. 15, compared to 19.2% on Feb. 8, 19% on Feb. 1 and 18.8% as of Jan. 26.

The five dividend-paying food investments to purchase are climbing when industries such as technology have been struggling to recoup 2022 share price plunges. Despite technology tending to outperform in the long term, dividend-paying food investments have been satisfying investor tastes.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, Guru Focus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Special Holiday Offer: Paul is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The uplifting book is great gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for special pricing on multiple-book purchases.

Five dividend-paying beverage investments to purchase highlight an industry-centric exchange-traded fund, a London-based, multinational provider of premium alcohol and three U.S. soft drink companies.

The five dividend-paying beverage investments are in the top-rated consumer staples sub-sector, according to BofA Global Research. Household, beauty and personal care companies followed closely behind, among stocks that consumers tend to reward during all economic conditions.

Britain’s Diageo plc (NYSE: DEO) received an upgraded rating of “outperform,” up from market perform, on Monday, Feb. 6, from Sanford C. Bernstein, a New York-based financial advisory firm. The investment firm projected a potential upside in the stock up close to 30%.

Courtesy of www.StockRover.com. Learn about Stock Rover by clicking here.

Five Dividend-paying Investments to Purchase: PBJ

Investors looking to gain exposure in the beverage industry may want to seriously consider Invesco Dynamic Food & Beverage (PBJ), said Bob Carlson, a pension fund chairman who also heads the Retirement Watch investment newsletter that recommends a variety of strategically selected portfolios. The fund seeks to track the Dynamic Food & Beverage Intellidex Index. The index typically has 30 stocks of companies that are principally engaged in the manufacture, distribution, or sale of products in the food and beverage, agricultural and new food technologies.

The index has frequent changes and selects securities using price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action and value. Turnover in the fund is about 98%.

Bob Carlson, pension chairman and Retirement Watch, talks to Paul Dykewicz.

The fund’s dividend yield is hovering around 1.8%, while its share price has jumped 2.61% in the last 12 months. PBJ is down 1.80% for the past three months but up 2.61% over the last four weeks.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Five Dividend-paying Investments to Purchase: Diageo Inc.

Diageo’s brands of alcohol feature Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JeB, Buchanan’s, Windsor and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness. Its multinational reach encompasses the world’s biggest markets, including North America; Europe and Turkey; Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean; and the Asia-Pacific.

Jim Woods, who concurrently leads the Intelligence Report investment newsletter and the Bullseye Stock Trader advisory service, told me he likes the company’s prospects, especially after a recent pullback in its share price that reduced its valuation. Woods, whose trading service features both stocks and options, is an aficionado of fine dining and premium drinks. He has yet to recommend the stock but indicated to me he is keeping an eye on it.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Woods Picks His Favorite of Five Dividend-paying Investments to Purchase

On Jan. 26, Diageo reported an 18.4% rise in net sales during the second half of 2022, compared to the same time the year before, primarily reflecting strong organic net sales growth as well as favorable impacts from foreign exchange stemming from a rising U.S. dollar. The company’s operating profit grew 15.2% to $3.86 billion, or £3.2 billion.

However, Diageo reported a drop in operating margin of 92 basis points, or .92%, for the last six months of 2022, compared to the same period the previous year, with organic margin expansion more than offset by one-time operating items and foreign exchange. Diageo also reported that its organic operating profit grew 9.7% in second-half 2022, compared to the same six months of 2021, and its organic operating margin expanded by 9 basis points, or .09%, driven by leverage on operating costs due to disciplined cost controls, despite inflation.

Price increases and supply productivity savings more than offset the impact of absolute cost inflation on gross margin, Diageo reported. Growth flowed across most categories, primarily scotch, tequila and beer, the company announced. Premium-plus brands contributed 57% of Diageo’s reported net sales and drove 65% organic net sales growth.

Paul Dykewicz meets with Jim Woods, head of Bullseye Stock Trader.

Five Dividend-paying Investments to Purchase: Coca-Cola

Consumer staples food and beverage companies have shown “surprisingly inelastic” demand for their products, according to BofA. The investment firm foresees upside for gross margins, along with upgraded earnings revisions, as input inflation plateaus and the U.S. dollar weakens.

Unlike last quarter, BofA broadly predicts earnings estimates for fiscal year 2023 will be in-line or advance due to a brightening outlook.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola is recommended both by BofA and Mark Skousen, PhD, who leads the Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter. Coca-Cola is among the Flying Five stocks that Skousen recommends by choosing five Dow Jones Industrial Average positions that have the lowest price from a list of the 10 highest-yielding companies in the index. His Flying Five recommendations have beaten the market most of the years he has used the strategy.

Mark Skousen, a scion of Ben Franklin and head of Fast Money Alert, meets Paul Dykewicz.

Coca-Cola’s total returns have reached 47.2% since Skousen recommended it on July 31, 2017.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Five Dividend-paying Investments to Purchase: Coca-Cola’s Organic Growth Impresses BofA

BofA projects “solid organic sales growth” from Coca-Cola, aided by price hikes and strong demand. The investment firm set a $74 price objective on the stock, giving it a premium to non-alcoholic-beverage peers.

“In our view, a premium multiple is warranted by balanced and resilient organic sales growth,” BofA wrote in a research note.

Outperformance could occur with strong growth in developed and emerging markets, a weakening U.S. dollar compared to other currencies and improved free cash flow conversion, BofA opined. Risks to meeting that price target include volatility in developed and emerging markets, earnings per share (EPS) headwinds if the U.S. dollar strengthens and consumer concerns about sugar and calories, the investment firm wrote.

PepsiCo Pops Up Among Five Dividend-paying Investments to Purchase

Harrison, New York-based PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) is another major beverage stock. The company also owns the popular Frito-Lay brand of snack foods, as well as Quaker Oats. BoA put a buy recommendation on PepsiCo, along with a $205 price target.

“We expect PEP is set up for another quarter of strong organic sales growth, modeling 4Q22 organic sales growth of +8%,” BofA wrote.

PepsiCo received a premium valuation to its non-alcoholic-beverage peers that is “justified” based on the stock’s positioning to deliver against its long-term algorithm and return cash to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases, according to BofA’s research note. Further pluses for PepsiCo include low-to-moderate foreign exchange headwinds, growth opportunities and improving volume/price/mix in soft drinks.

Potential risks to reaching the price target include foreign exchange becoming a drag on results and Frito-Lay North America incurring a decline in volumes due to price hikes. As a fan of Quaker Oats products, I have noticed prices for those goods rising sharply to the point that I recently switched to buying store brands instead.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

‘Pepsi Please,’ Connell Says as She Picks One of Five Dividend-paying Investments to Purchase

Michelle Connell, chief executive officer of Dallas-based Portia Capital Management, also recommends Pepsi. Even though inflation has caused many consumers to trade down with their consumer staple purchases and buy cheaper products, Pepsi has not felt this pressure, Connell commented.

As Pepsi has passed along price increases caused by inflation, its sales have not diminished. Pepsi has raised prices, since consumers largely are shunning generic beverages, she added.

Pepsi Propels Dividend Payout 10%

In addition, Pepsi announced a 10% boost in its dividend payout when it released its fourth-quarter financial results on Feb. 9. The quarterly dividend rose to $1.265, marking the 51st year in a row that Pepsi has raised its dividends.

All segments of Pepsi’s businesses continued to experience strong demand for its products, but the Gatorade, Pepsi and Mountain Dew beverage brands showed high demand.

While Pepsi had a good performance in 2022, the stock is off 4.36% year to date. Wall Street analysts estimate that the stock has upside of 10-15% over the next 12 months, Connell told me.

Pepsi can no longer be considered a pure beverage play, Connell said. Convenience foods represent 55% of the company’s sales, while beverages account for the remaining 45%.

“So, every time you walk into a convenience store and grab a package of Lays, Cheetos or Doritos, you are purchasing a Pepsi product,” Connell told me.

Michelle Connell leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

“The company has also been able to increase its beverage market share, especially in the water and athletic beverage categories,” Connell continued.

One area of potential weakness is negative currency effects from a strong U.S. dollar, Connell counseled.

International markets have become increasingly significant for Pepsi’s future, Connell said. Currently, 40% of the company’s sales and one-third of its operating income originate from outside the United States.

“Emerging markets have younger consumers that are just turning the corner from poverty to middle class status,” Connell said. “Disposable income allows these individuals to purchase more foods and beverages more in line with those of their developed market peers.”

In addition, economic forecasts indicate emerging market countries may be the only nations to report positive gross domestic product (GDP) this year. They include China, India and several others in Asia, she added.

Five Dividend-paying Investments to Purchase: Keurig Dr Pepper

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP), of Burlington, Massachusetts, is another BofA recommendation. The investment firm placed a $45 price target on the stock. The valuation takes into account KDP’s “attractive portfolio” of products that can grow sales and earnings, particularly with the addition of the C4 energy drink brand, BofA wrote.

Potential to outperform the price target could come from additional synergies, reduced volatility in the coffee business, increased adoption of Keurig brewers and pods, as well as attractive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) candidates.

Several risks could create headwinds to attain the price objective, according to BofA. They include any industry shifts away from single serve coffee, which could lead to slower than anticipated de-leveraging, along with weak consumer spending around the holiday season that could negatively impact sales of the Keurig brewers.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Intensifies

The five dividend-paying beverage investments stocks to purchase are largely protected from the ferocious fighting taking place in Bakhmut, Ukraine, where Russian forces are seeking to seize control of a key highway and capture that important transportation route. Russian airborne units have joined Wagner mercenary fighters in the battle for the city.

Russia’s troops are “leveling Bakhmut to the ground, killing everyone they can reach,” Pavlo Kyrylenko, a Ukrainian prosecutor and politician who also is the current Governor of Donetsk Oblast, wrote on Telegram. Russia claimed on Tuesday, Feb. 1 to have captured a village just to north of Bakhmut as it tries to surround the city and seize control.

Russia is sustaining its onslaught of increased strikes that began last October, targeting Ukraine’s energy and civilian infrastructure. Ukraine is seeking and receiving additional tanks and fighter jets from its allies to fend off Russia’s unrelenting onslaught.

President Biden, in his State of the Union to a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday night, Feb. 7, said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered a “murderous assault” against Ukraine, evoking images of the “death and destruction” Europe suffered in World War II. During the speech, President Biden recognized the presence of Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova.

“She represents not just her nation, but the courage of her people,” Biden said. “Ambassador, America is united in our support for your country. We will stand with you as long as it takes,”

President Putin launched what he called a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine on February 24, 2022, by attacking his neighboring nation in violation of international law.

China’s officials claimed its balloon that flew above sensitive national defense sites in the United States was civilian and strayed off course before America’s President Joe Biden ordered it shot down by a Navy pilot over U.S. waters off the coast of South Carolina. However, U.S. officials refuted those claims.

“I can assure this was not for civilian purposes,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder. “We are 100 percent clear on that.”

President Biden also ordered the successful shoot down of an unidentified, unmanned object over frozen waters near the coast of Alaska on Friday, Feb.10. It was at an altitude of 40,000, raising the risk it may interfere with commercial air traffic, Biden administration officials said.

Could Alleged Aerial Spying by China Lead to Economic Sanctions by the United States and Other Nations?

A relaxing of COVID-related lockdowns in China has begun showing signs of spurring its economy and boosting demand for construction-related commodities such as copper and oil. However, China is putting itself in the crosshairs of the United States and other nations for violating their air space.

China’s leaders denied its multiple balloons flying over other countries are part of its national surveillance program, but U.S. leaders countered that its international rival’s balloon-spying program is intended to target not only the United States, but 40 countries across different continents. U.S. officials reportedly are considering punitive actions against China aimed at curbing the surveillance activities of the world’s most populous country.

The U.S. Navy shot down China’s alleged spy balloon and recovered it in U.S. territory.

Image courtesy of DOD Imagery and Petty Officer 1st Class Tyler Thompson.

China’s Officials Admit to 82,000 COVID Deaths in Past Two Months

China continues to be criticized for its lack of transparency in reporting the COVID-19 cases and deaths in its country. Its officials tweaked the country’s death toll to include those caused by COVID-related illnesses, bringing the total to 82,000 deaths in the last two months. However, only people who died in hospitals are counted, not those who perished at home, news reports indicated.

President Biden recently announced plans to end the current U.S. public health emergency declaration due to COVID-19 this May. However, worldwide COVID-19 deaths rose to 6,852,940 people, with total cases of 672,684,379, Johns Hopkins reported on Feb. 10. COVID-19 cases in the United States totaled 102,842,854, while deaths reached 1,114,341 as of Feb. 10, according to Johns Hopkins University. Until recent reports that China had more than 248 million cases of COVID-19, America had ranked as the nation with the most coronavirus cases and deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 269,208,743 people, or 81.1% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of Feb. 8. People who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 229,820,324 of the U.S. population, or 69.2%, according to the CDC. The United States has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 49,078,211 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 19.2% as of Feb. 8, 19% on Feb. 1, 18.8% as of Jan. 26, 18.5% on Jan. 18, 18.2% the week before and 11, 17.7% the previous week.

The five dividend-paying beverage investments to purchase offer refreshing investment opportunities when the market overall has been struggling in the past year to find strength.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, Guru Focus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Special Holiday Offer: Paul is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The uplifting book is great gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for special pricing on multiple-book purchases.

Six dividend-paying consumer staples stocks to purchase as recession shields feature proven brands.

Five of the six dividend-paying consumer staples stocks to purchaser feature the food and beverage category, while the other one offers cleaning and personal care products. BofA Global Research rated beverage stocks as its favorite consumer staples sub-sector, but household, beauty and personal care companies followed closely.

Multinational consumer staple stocks such as Atlanta’s Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and Cincinnati’s Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) will be helped by peak U.S. dollar and interest rates, BofA wrote. Investors eyeing quality can rely on Harrison, New York-based PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) and Hershey, Pennsylvania’s Hershey (NYSE: HSY), while those seeking a consumer staples stock in the mid-cap and small-cap category can choose frozen potato provider Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LW), of Eagle, Idaho.

Courtesy of www.StockRover.com. Learn about Stock Rover by clicking here.

Six Dividend-paying Consumer Staples Stocks to Purchase Enjoy Inelastic Demand

Unlike last quarter, BofA broadly expects earnings estimates for fiscal year 2023 to be in-line or move up due to the factors previously mentioned.

Coca-Cola is recommended both by BofA and Mark Skousen, PhD, who heads the Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter. Coca-Cola is among the Flying Five stocks that Skousen recommends by choosing five Dow Jones Industrial Average positions that have the lowest price from a list of the 10 highest-yielding companies in the index.

Mark Skousen, a scion of Ben Franklin and head of Fast Money Alert, meets Paul Dykewicz.

Coca-Cola’s total returns have reached 46.8% since Skousen recommended it on July 31, 2017.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Coca-Cola Headlines Six-Dividend-paying Consumer Staples Stocks to Purchase

BofA projects “solid organic sales growth” from Coca-Cola aided by price hikes and strong demand. The investment firm set a $74 price objective on the stock, giving it a premium to non-alcoholic-beverage peers.

“In our view, a premium multiple is warranted by balanced and resilient organic sales growth,” BofA wrote in a recent research note.

An outperformance could occur with strong growth in developed and emerging markets, a weakening U.S. dollar compared to other currencies and improved free cash flow conversion. Risks to meeting that price target include volatility in developed and emerging markets, earnings per share (EPS) headwinds if the U.S. dollar strengthens and consumer concerns about sugar and calories, the investment firm wrote.

Six-Dividend-paying Consumer Staples Stocks to Purchase Include PepsiCo

PepsiCo is another major beverage stock top phase. The company owns the popular Frito-Lay brand of snack foods. BoA put a $205 price target on PepsiCo., along with a buy recommendation.

“We expect PEP is set up for another quarter of strong organic sales growth, modeling 4Q22 organic sales growth of +8%,” BofA wrote.

PepsiCo received a premium valuation to its non-alcoholic-beverage peers that is “justified” based on the stock’s positioning to deliver against its long-term algorithm and return cash to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases, the investment firm wrote. Further pluses for PepsiCo include low-to-moderate foreign exchange headwinds, growth opportunities and improving volume/price/mix in soft drinks.

Risks to reaching the price target stem from foreign exchange becoming a drag on results and Frito-Lay North America incurring a decline in volumes due to price hikes.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Six-Dividend-paying Consumer Staples Stocks to Purchase Clean up with Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble is a pick of Jim Woods, who concurrently leads the Intelligence Report investment newsletter and the Bullseye Stock Trader. The latter service recommends stocks and options, while Intelligence Report newsletter features stocks that typically pay dividends.

Paul Dykewicz meets with Jim Woods, head of Bullseye Stock Trader.

Woods recommends Procter & Gamble in the Income Multipliers Portfolio in his Intelligence Report investment newsletter.

BofA forecasts favorable tailwinds for Procter & Gamble with its market share trend improving since the start of fiscal year 2023, while inflation and currency headwinds moderate. Market expectations for organic sales have crept up recently to 5%, but the company has a favorable setup over the next few quarters, forecast BofA, which gave the stock a price target of $170.

Portia Capital Chief Predicts Procter & Gamble Will Shine

Michelle Connell, chief executive officer of Dallas-based Portia Capital Management, also recommends Procter & Gamble. Even though inflation has caused many consumers to trade down with their consumer staple purchases and buy cheaper products, Procter & Gamble has not felt this pressure, Connell commented.

Michelle Connell leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

In its last quarter, the company had revenue growth of 5% due to its ability to increase its sales prices, Connell said. For its core categories, the company boosted prices 8-13%, she added.

Consumers are less willing to compromise regarding PG’s product categories, Connell counseled. The stock has three tailwinds that should assist in returning growth to its bottom line in the form of earnings per share, she said.

Procter & Gamble is expected to continue to increase its U.S. market share for the categories of family care and fabric care, Connell continued. The economic reopening of China will be a huge lift for Procter & Gamble, as the world’s most populous nation accounts for 10% of the company’s revenues, Connell added.

Procter & Gamble Has Upside of at Least 16%

The estimated upside for Procter & Gamble is more than 16%, Connell counseled. The stock also is offering a current dividend yield of 2.6%.

BofA’s price objective is affected by potential slowing in sales momentum, adverse competitive responses from private label brands in the coming months and a return to “risk-on” investing that would make Procter & Gamble’s defensive qualities less attractive.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Keurig Dr Pepper Is Among Six-Dividend-paying Consumer Staples Stocks to Purchase

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP), of Burlington, Massachusetts, is another recommendation of BoA. The investment firm placed a $45 price objective on the stock. The valuation takes into account KDP’s “attractive portfolio” of products that is equipped to grow sales and earnings, particularly with the addition of the C4 energy drink brand, BofA wrote.

Potential outperformance to the price target could come from additional synergies, reduced volatility in the coffee business, increased adoption of Keurig brewers and pods, as well as attractive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) candidates.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Hershey Is the Sweetest of Six-Dividend-paying Consumer Staples Stocks to Purchase

The Hershey Co. received a buy recommendation and a $270 price target from BofA. With some slack in capacity, Hershey is in a better position than recent years to service demand upside if it materializes, BofA wrote in a research note.

For fiscal year 2023 guidance, HSY provided perspective on sales, pricing and inflation, causing BofA to write that it did not expect much surprise one way or another with earnings. Hershey is executing on its pricing actions and has seen lower-than-expected elasticities across its portfolio as consumers spend on sweet treats and snack in an inflationary environment, BofA wrote.

“In addition, HSY has been able to maintain share in its categories with the lowest private label exposure in its peer set,” BofA continued.

Potential outperformance could come from continued market share gains in a low private label exposure environment, faster moderation of inflation, low elasticity persisting and volume gains offsetting any pricing decelerations, BofA opined. Risks to reaching the price target include elevated inflation taking longer than expected to taper off, competitors grabbing market share from HSY and negative surprises on packaging, logistics or special ingredient costs that aren’t traditionally hedged by Hershey.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Six Dividend-paying Consumer Staples Stocks to Purchase: Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LW), of Eagle, Idaho, supplies frozen potato, sweet potato, appetizer and vegetable products to restaurants and retailers worldwide. For more than 60 years, Lamb Weston has introduced inventive products that are distributed to more than 100 countries.

The company has manufacturing operations in the Pacific Northwest, arguably in the world’s best potato-growing region, the Columbia River Basin. Lamb Weston employs more than 7,000 people worldwide in sales offices, manufacturing plants and corporate offices.

BofA gave Lamb Weston Holdings a price objective of $115, a premium to the packaged food index. The investment firm wrote that the premium is warranted, since Lamb Weston is poised to approach pre-COVID levels with upside potential to improve demand trends and margin potential in fiscal year 2023 and 2024.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Potential Risks Could Weigh on Lamb Weston

Potential outperformance for Lamb Weston to surpass its $115 price target could come from demand rebounding faster than expected and category growth staying above 3% to allow tight industry supply to continue in the medium- to long-term. Tight industry supply allows for further price increases across both global and food service customers, BofA wrote.

Risks to reaching the $115 price target include higher-than-expected potato costs for 2022, struggling to push through additional pricing to cover inflation and restore margins, influx of new industry capacity and slowdown in on-premises activity if the consumer has less spending power.

Bryan Perry, the leader of the Cash Machine investment newsletter and the Breakout Options Alert trading service, recommended Lamb Weston call options in the latter service. The trade is almost up by 10% since the recommendation and the stock is up 11.78% so far this year.

Russia’s War Against Ukraine Intensifies

The six dividend-paying consumer staples stocks to purchase are mostly insulated from the fierce fighting currently occurring in Bakhmut, Ukraine, where Russian forces are trying to gain control of a key highway and disrupt supplies. Russian airborne units have joined Wagner mercenary fighters in the battle for the city.

Russia is sustaining its onslaught of increased strikes that began in October, targeting Ukraine’s energy and civilian infrastructure. Meanwhile, Ukraine is seeking and receiving additional tanks by its allies to fend off Russia’s unrelenting attack.

COVID Deaths Rise, But President Biden Plans to End COVID Public Health Emergency Declaration in May

President Biden announced earlier this week that he planned to end the current U.S. public health emergency declaration due to COVID-19 this May. However, worldwide COVID-19 deaths rose to 6,840,062 people, with total cases of 671,502,472, Johns Hopkins reported on Feb. 3. COVID-19 cases in the United States totaled 102,586,687, while deaths reached 1,111,485 as of Feb. 3, according to Johns Hopkins University. Until recent reports that China had 248 million cases of COVID-19, America had ranked as the nation with the most coronavirus cases and deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 269,064,626 people, or 81.0% the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of Feb. 1. People who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 229,719,115 of the U.S. population, or 69.2%, according to the CDC. The United States has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 49,078,211 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 19% as of Feb. 1, compared to 18.8% as of Jan. 26, 18.5% on Jan. 18, 18.2% on Jan. 11, 17.7% as of Jan. 4, 17.3% on Dec. 28, 16.8% the previous week, 16.3% the week before that one and 15.5% the preceding week.

The six dividend-paying consumer staples stocks to purchase offer tempting investment opportunities in beverages, food and personal care products.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, Guru Focus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Special Holiday Offer: Paul is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The uplifting book is great gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for special pricing on multiple-book purchases.

Three dividend-paying space stocks aim for profitable orbits as the industry seeks to launch past 2022’s weak performance amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The three dividend-paying space stocks offer income payouts and potential share price appreciation. Part of the reason many space stocks struggled in 2022 stemmed from weak results of special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) that operate as shell organizations to merge with private companies.

SPACs serve as an alternative to traditional initial public offerings (IPOs), and typically have no tangible assets other than the cash they obtained from investors. Transactions involving private companies going public through a combination with a SPAC are called de-SPACs.

Long Beach, California-based Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) became the space industry’s top-performing de-SPAC last year among the stocks tracked by BofA Global Research, yet RKLB still underperformed the S&P 500, which dropped 19.44% in 2022. In fact, the S&P 500 endured its worst performance in 14 years. Astra Space (NASDAQ: ASTR), the worst-performing stock in BofA’s coverage universe, traded down 94% last year.

“We believe the strong underperformance of these names can be attributed to a multitude of factors — general de-SPAC discount, limited institutional ownership and pre-earnings nature of most businesses,” BofA wrote in a recent research note.

Courtesy of www.StockRover.com. Learn about Stock Rover by clicking here.

Three Dividend-paying Space Stocks Feature General Dynamics

General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), a global aerospace and defense company based in Reston, Virginia, is a recommendation of stock picker Jim Woods in his monthly Intelligence Report investment newsletter. He put the dividend-paying space and defense stock in his Income Multipliers portfolio.

Woods, a seasoned investment guru and the leader of the Bullseye Stock Trader advisory service that features stocks and options, keeps a close watch on space and defense stocks. Woods is a former Army paratrooper who has a track record of investing profitably in space and defense stocks.

Paul Dykewicz meets with Jim Woods, head of Bullseye Stock Trader.

General Dynamics has worked closely on space missions for decades with NASA and the U.S. military. The company’s management boasts that General Dynamics currently has its telecommunications technology circling multiple planets.

Indeed, General Dynamics Mission Systems enabled Neil Armstrong, the U.S. astronaut who became the first man on the moon in 1969, to transmit back to Earth his famous words of “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” General Dynamics also will serve a pivotal role when NASA heads back to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program.

The first trip in the Artemis program featured Artemis I, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 16, 2022. General Dynamics built the S-Band transponders and emergency radios for the Orion spacecraft.

Orion, the first spacecraft built for crewed deep space missions, will have two transponders for redundancy and an emergency radio built by the Space and Intelligence Systems team of General Dynamics. When Orion’s crew makes its first trip to space, General Dynamics’ transponders will keep the astronauts connected to mission command centers on Earth.

Three Dividend-paying Space Stocks Show Growth

Giant General Dynamics employs more than 100,000 people worldwide and generated $38.5 billion in revenue in 2021. The company also received a “buy” recommendation from BofA, which set a price objective of $305, based partly on a 5.0% 2025-2030 growth rate and 2.8% long-term growth rate, as well as increased defense budget expectations. BofA wrote that the company’s defense program provides exposure to land and sea priorities, coupled with its Gulfstream business jet manufacturing segment, offering near-term and medium-term organic growth.

Other pluses are the company’s strong balance sheet and solid cash generation, helping to sustain dividend growth and share repurchases, BofA wrote. Potential downside risks to reaching that price target, according to BofA, are a possible drop in business jet sales due to an exogenous factor and the pricing of business jets in dollars, making the company vulnerable to an unexpected devaluation of the U.S. dollar that could significantly impact orders. Any adverse impact on margins for defense programs and unforeseen government budget cuts could limit its growth.

On the defense side, General Dynamics produces combat vehicles, nuclear-powered submarines and communications systems to provide safety and security during military missions. Woods noted that the company pays a dividend that currently yields more than 2%.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Iridium Stands out as the Second of Three Dividend-paying Space Stocks

McLean, Virginia-based Iridium Communications Inc.’s (NASDAQ: IRDM) CEO Matthew Desch and Vice President of Investor Relations Ken Levy met with analysts at Chicago-based investment firm William Blair on Jan. 17 to discuss a Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) Snapdragon Satellite (QSS) partnership. The Iridium leaders emphasized that their company’s core business was growing 10% annually, before factoring in the new Qualcomm smartphone partnership.

William Blair’s analyst Louie DiPalma described the Qualcomm partnership as “net incrementally positive.” Iridium shares are up 14.88% year-to-date on top of its 25% return in 2022. Despite the increased valuation, the investment firm forecasts further upside in 2023 to a range of $63 to $78, up from the investment firm’s prior projected range of $60 to $75. Iridium’s stock closed at $59.03 on Jan. 27.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Iridium’s third in-orbit satellite constellation may cost less than the $3 billion required for Iridium NEXT. Iridium spent $3 billion to fund its 66-satellite constellation from 2010 through 2019, before it likely will have another hefty capital expenditure from 2030 through 2037. Desch estimated that the company’s third-generation constellation should cost less than the $3 billion it paid for its NEXT constellation, partly due to SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle slashing the cost to reach orbit by half.

Three Dividend-paying Space Stocks Show Promise in Auto Applications

Iridium management voiced optimism about opportunities associated with the auto sector and machine-to-machine (M2M) data. The auto industry has the potential to generate significantly more usage fees per device than smartphones.

Consumer internet of things (IoT) cannibalization should be mitigated by new features. Iridium has consumer IoT messaging partnerships with Garmin (NYSE: GRMN), Zoleo and Bixby.

These partners should unveil devices that will let users send and receive picture messages. The enhanced feature, along with an ecosystem of products, should provide differentiation relative to the Qualcomm Snapdragon Satellite partnership and allow the consumer IoT segment to keep its momentum.

“Carrier subsidies could be a source of upside,” DiPalma wrote. “Cellular carriers or device OEMs such as Samsung may subsidize recreational messaging plans to drive customers.”

Iridium will continue to be valued on a sum-of-the-parts basis, DiPalma wrote. First, he estimated Iridium’s interest in Aireon is worth $4.35 per share. Second, he gave a free cash flow (FCF) multiple of 22 times to 28 times his 2024 FCF estimate of $63 to $78 per share for the next 12 months. The valuation estimates of William Blair do not factor in the smartphone partnership.

“We believe that this FCF yield is warranted due to Iridium’s strong competitive moat,” DiPalma wrote. “In our view, Iridium deserves this premium multiple due to its record of execution and new products and services in the pipeline.”

Iridium Rated ‘Outperform’ as One of Three Dividend-paying Space Stocks

For these reasons, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on Iridium. The main risk for Iridium’s stock is that its smartphone technology experiences quality of service issues or Samsung does not initially adopt the satellite service.

Iridium is the leading global provider of low Earth orbit L-band satellite services for customers across commercial, aviation, recreation, maritime, and defense markets. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations should be accounted for when assessing Iridium. The most important considerations for Iridium and the satellite sector generally relate to space sustainability and the risks associated with orbital debris and orbital collisions.

Consider the de-orbiting process for the original Iridium satellite constellation. Working satellites were removed within 30 days of service being turned off. However, there are many nonworking Iridium satellites that remain in orbit.

Iridium has collaborated with the Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) to develop optimal practices for collision mitigation. Iridium publishes an annual ESG report. In 2021, Iridium appeared on Newsweek’s “America’s Most Responsible Companies” list.

Three Dividend-paying Space Stocks: Leidos Holdings

Reston, Virginia-based Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a science and technology company, has been awarded prime contracts by the U.S. Army. One example is the Geospatial Center’s (AGC) High-Resolution Three Dimensional (HR3D) Geospatial Information Operation and Technology Integration program. That single-award contract has an estimated value of $600 million, if all options are exercised.

The period of performance for the contract includes a one-year base, as well as three one-year options. Work will be performed predominantly in Virginia and other locations.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Leidos, previously known as Science Applications International Corporation, serves the U.S. defense, aviation, information technology and biomedical research industries. The company also provides scientific, engineering systems integration and technical services.

Three Dividend-paying Space Stocks: BofA Recommends Leidos

BofA set a price target of $130 on Leidos, forecasting that the company should trade in line in the defense prime contractors amid strong U.S. national security demand for innovative technologies and solutions. The company also has solid free cash flow, countered by a lumpy contract award environment, near-term supply chain pressures and mounting concerns about labor inflation.

Risks to reach the price target include cuts to the U.S. government budget, compared to expectations, increased competition from non-traditional competitors and problems integrating mergers and acquisitions (M&As), hiring the right personnel, containing costs, estimating costs and executing on fixed price contracts. The company also could face reputational risk.

Potential outperformance could come from a better-than-expected federal budget allocated to innovative technologies and modernization, inexpensive and well-integrated M&A activity, along with unexpected capital return to shareholders through dividends or share buybacks, market share gains, or better-than-forecast margin, BoA wrote.

Michelle Connell, who leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management, recommends Leidos as a strong mid-cap defense stock that is not covered as prominently as the large-cap stocks in the industry. The company has a large domestic customer base that produces 90% of its revenues.

Michelle Connell heads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

LDOS has a record for beating earnings estimates, and it is likely to beat estimates again on Feb. 15 when the company reports, Connell said.

“The options market has an interesting take on the stock,” Connell said. “When you break down the part of the premium that compensates for implied volatility, the compensation is high for the Feb. 17 calls.”

This means that the options market expects a big move one way or another for the stock, Connell said. Given that Leidos typically exceeds expectations, it would be logical for the stock to outperform estimates, she added.

With the company’s stock price down 8.27% so far this year through Friday, Jan. 27, maybe the market has been incorrect in its recent assessment, Connell continued.

Skousen Questions SpaceX Chairman Elon Musk

Mark Skousen, the head of the Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter, also is a leader of the Fast Money Alert trading service that invests in stocks and options. Skousen queried SpaceX and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) founder Elon Musk at the annual Baron Investment Conference held in New York on Nov. 4. Skousen, who also is a Chapman University Presidential Fellow and recently was named the first Doti-Spogli Chair in Free Enterprise at its Argyros School of Business and Economics, recommended Tesla in Fast Money Alert this month due to the stock’s reduced valuation after it plunged 66.3% in the last year.

Mark Skousen, a scion of Ben Franklin and chief of Fast Money Alert, meets Paul Dykewicz.

Skousen and Woods, co-leaders of the Fast Money Alert trading service, combined to produce a short-term gain of nearly 10% with their Oct. 3 recommendation of defense, space and cyber consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH), of McLean, Virginia. The call options they recommended soared 239.27% in just 28 days before they advised selling.

Non-Dividend-paying Rocket Lab Misses Qualifying for List

Non-dividend-paying Rocket Lab received a $13 price objective from BofA, based on a long-term discounted cash flow (DCF) of Base, Bull, and Bear cases for different revenue and cash generation scenarios between now and 2035. BofA’s DCF factors in a 13% discount rate and assigns 33% probability to the Base case, 33% probability to the Bull case and a 33% probability to the Bear case.

BofA employs a lower discount rate relative to peers to account for the company’s more mature launch capabilities. In its view, the equal weighting fairly reflects current investor risk appetite, momentum for new technology space stocks and the perceived viability of Rocket Lab’s business model compared to peers.

Risks to BofA’s price objective are persistent COVID-19 restrictions in New Zealand, production delays, constellation launch market remaining captive to certain providers, setbacks to the economic recovery, inability to achieve mergers and acquisitions (M&A) synergies and setbacks to Neutron vehicle development. Potential outperformance could come from better-than-expected cost cutting and margin expansion, well-integrated M&A activity, market share gains in satellite components and services, higher reutilization levels and better-than-expected commercialization of the Neutron launch vehicle.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

China COVID-19 News Reports Rising Deaths

China recently reported 13,000 COVID-19-related deaths in a single week. The death toll from that week is in addition to more than 60,000 deaths that the country has attributed to the virus since December.

With many people in China returning to their hometowns to celebrate the the country’s most important festival, the Lunar New Year, risk mounts that elderly people may be infected by COVID-19 from those visiting from elsewhere. Government officials have cautioned about the risk to public health.

China has been accused of lacking transparency since the virus emerged in late 2019. Critics contend China may not be sharing data about new strains that may spark fresh outbreaks in other countries.

The United States, France, Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan and Italy have announced passengers from China need to test negative for COVID. An internal meeting of China’s National Health Commission estimated that up to 248 million people contracted the coronavirus during the first 20 days of December. COVID-19 still is raging through cities in China.

Three Dividend-paying Space Stocks Affected by COVID

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths soared to 6,741,826 people, with total cases of 670,075,077, Johns Hopkins reported on Jan. 27. COVID-19 cases in the United States totaled 102,277,103, while deaths reached 1,107,634, as of Jan. 27, according to Johns Hopkins University. Until reports found China had 248 million cases of COVID-19, America had ranked as the nation with the most coronavirus cases and deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 268,927,705 people, or 81.0% the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of Jan. 26. People who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 229,619,755 of the U.S. population, or 69.2%, according to the CDC. The United States has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 47,859,040 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 18,8% as of Jan. 26. It marks a jump from 18.5% as of Jan. 18, from 18.2% on Jan. 11, 17.7% as of Jan. 4, 17.3% on Dec. 28, 16.8% the previous week, 16.3% the week before that one and 15.5% the preceding week.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s secret Dec. 21 flight to Washington, D.C., let him to speak face-to-face with U.S. President Joe Biden to advocate for essential military equipment to defend against Russia’s continuing attacks. Zelensky’s address to a joint session of Congress that evening gained support from many U.S. lawmakers. The surprise visit marked Zelensky’s first international trip since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Russia is sustaining its onslaught of intensified strikes that began in October, targeting Ukraine’s energy and civilian infrastructure.

War Against Ukraine Fails to Ground Three Dividend-paying Space Stocks

Even though Russia’s leaders describe their attack of Ukraine launched on Feb. 24 as a “special military operation,” its soldiers are intensifying their assault of Ukraine, especially the city of Bakhmut. News reports indicate Russia seized control of Soledar, a nearby city in eastern Ukraine.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin cautioned that time is short for the United States and other Western countries to provide Ukraine with advanced tanks required to thwart a Russian offensive in the spring. Ukraine not only needs the tanks and other weapons but the training to use them.

The Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a group of U.S.-assembled defense ministers, announced major new commitments of weapons, including an additional $2.5 billion of Bradley fighting vehicles, Stryker vehicles and other important tanks and military equipment.

The three dividend-paying space stocks have many capabilities, including vital communications from space that can aid military personnel. With Russia’s military releasing criminals to serve in the front lines of attacks to let its commanders identify Ukrainian forces offering resistance, the death toll is mounting for both sides.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, Guru Focus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Special Holiday Offer: Paul is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The uplifting book is great gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for special pricing on multiple-book purchases.

Seven dividend-paying defense stocks serving the U.S. Army and shareholders are surging amid the most monumental procurement cycle since President Ronald Reagan’s two terms in the 1980s.

The seven dividend-paying defense stocks serving the U.S. Army and shareholders received a lift Dec. 29 when President Biden signed a $1.7 trillion federal spending bill that provided the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) $797.7 billion in discretionary funds for fiscal year 2023, up $69.3 billion, or 9.5%, from fiscal year 2022. The amount appropriated by Congress for the national defense topped the president’s DoD budget request by $36.1 billion.

The spending is intended to develop, maintain and equip the U.S. military and intelligence community. The beefed up funding also expanded weapons procurement by $5.9 billion, a $1.1 billion increase from President Biden’s request, as Russia wages war against Ukraine.

Another threat is China’s military flyovers and other provocations against Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and other nations in the Asia-Pacific region. Bipartisan support for enhanced U.S. defense spending resembles what occurred with President Reagan’s unwavering support of a strong national defense that started with his inauguration on January 20, 1981, and carried through his second term on January 20, 1989.

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Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army and Shareholders: Hexcel

The seven dividend-paying defense stocks serving the U.S. Army and shareholders topped the overall 2022 market performance by jumping as the major indices fell. Momentum seems intact for 2023 on the heels of President Biden signing legislation to enhance U.S. warfighting capabilities.

One of the defense stocks that is strongly supporting the U.S. Army is Hexcel (NYSE: HXL), a Stamford, Connecticut, company engaged in the space and defense market. Hexcel manufactures advanced composites used in commercial helicopters and in military aircraft. It currently is qualified to supply materials to a broad range of more than 100 helicopter, military aircraft and space programs.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army: Hexcel

Hexcel’s top 10 programs by revenues represent about 56% of sales for its Space and Defense business segment. Key programs include the F-35 joint strike fighter, or JSF, Sikorsky CH53K King Stallion, V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft, UH60M Blackhawk, AH-64 Apache, A400M military transport, European Fighter Aircraft (Typhoon), F/A-18E/F (Hornet), Rafale fighter jet, and MH90 Enforcer.

Space applications for advanced composites include solid rocket booster cases, fairings and payload doors for launch vehicles, and bus and solar arrays for military and commercial satellites. Hexcel also produces advanced composites for helicopter blades. Numerous new helicopter programs in development, as well as upgrade or retrofit programs, have an increased reliance on composite materials products such as carbon fiber, prepregs and honeycomb core to improve blade performance.

BoA Global Research placed a buy recommendation on Hexcel. The investment firm placed a $70 price objective on the stock.

Jim Woods, a seasoned stock picker and the leader of the Bullseye Stock Trader advisory service, recommends stocks and options that include defense investments. Woods, who concurrently heads the Intelligence Report investment newsletter, is a former Army paratrooper who has invested in defense stocks profitably. Woods recently recommended the stock and options in a traditional defense investment.

Paul Dykewicz meets with Jim Woods, head of Bullseye Stock Trader.

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army: Howmet Aerospace

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE: HWM), an advanced engineering company in Pittsburgh, received a buy recommendation and a $45 a share price target from BoA Global Research. The JSF hits Mach 1.6 under the thrust of possibly the most advanced engine on earth. It is built with cutting-edge materials, integrated airframe design and next-generation avionics to enable this fifth-generation fighter to operate with unprecedented stealth, speed and agility in air-to-air and air-to-ground combat.

In developing this complex machine, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) turned to Howmet Aerospace for many of its critical parts. These include single-piece forged aluminum bulkheads that form the “backbone” of the aircraft structure and save 300 to 400 pounds per jet, while cutting costs by 20%. The fighter jet also has titanium bulkheads and uses titanium to manufacture other airframe structures for all three F-35 JSF variants. Howmet supplies single-crystal, nickel-based superalloy blades and vanes that operate in environments hotter than the melting point of the metal to propel the engine.

Joint Strike Fighter Is a Multirole Combat Jet Capable of Flying at Mach 1.6.

To hold together the design, Howmet’s vibration-resistant fasteners are engineered to endure the most extreme G-forces and performance requirements. From nose to tail, Howmet Aerospace helps its customers meet aggressive weight, range and fuel efficiency targets to enable the F-35 to do what other military aircraft cannot.

Woods also teams up with Mark Skousen, the head of the Forecasts & Strategies investment newsletter, on the Fast Money Alert trading service that invests in stocks and options. Skousen queried SpaceX and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) founder Elon Musk at the annual Baron Investment Conference held in New York on Nov. 4. Skousen, who also is a Chapman University Presidential Fellow and recently was named the first Doti-Spogli Chair in Free Enterprise at its Argyros School of Business and Economics, recommended Tesla with Woods in Fast Money Alert earlier this month due to the stock’s reduced valuation, after plunging 64.4% in the last year through Jan. 17.

Mark Skousen, a scion of Ben Franklin and chief of Fast Money Alert, meets Paul Dykewicz.

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army: Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) is the top defense stock that Woods chose to offer attendees at the 2023 MoneyShow selections. LMT is the world’s largest defense contractor, and it has dominated the Western market for high-end fighter aircraft since the F-35 program was awarded in 2001. Lockheed’s largest segment is aeronautics, but the company also offers rotary and mission systems, missiles and fire control and space systems.

In December 2022, the United States was in the process of finalizing plans to provide Ukraine with Patriot missile-defense systems in its war against Russia, and this could be a big revenue driver for LMT. That’s because while the Patriot system is built by Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX), the missiles it fires are made by Lockheed.

Think of the Patriot deal as offering bullish “NewsQ,” i.e., information that can lift stocks, Woods said. Such news can help drive LMT shares higher in 2023, Woods added.

“Yet what I like about LMT is not just the bullish NewsQ, but also its earnings growth and its 2022 share price performance,” Woods commented. “On the earnings front, the company’s recent quarterly and annual earnings per share growth rates are in the top quintile of all companies, and I expect this metric to rise into next year.”

On the share price performance front, LMT’s 2022 gain vaulted it into the top 6% of all companies in terms of relative price strength, Woods commented. Finally, the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war shows the world is still a very dangerous place, and one where conventional warfare in Europe could very well be a reality. As a result, governments must get ready, and that means they need LMT capabilities.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army: L3Harris Technologies

L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX), a Melbourne, Florida-based defense contractor and information technology services provider, produces C6ISR systems and products, wireless equipment and tactical radios. It also netted a buy recommendation from BofA Global Research. The defense company, consisting of Integrated Mission Systems; Space & Airborne Systems, and Communication Systems, received a $285 price objective from BofA.

The valuation is in line with the median for a pure play defense stock, BofA wrote. However, an improved sentiment on defense spending should sustain a relative valuation slightly above the historical average, the investment firm added.

Potential reasons for the company to beat its price target include winning more business on new and existing programs versus BofA’s current expectations. Risk to the stock includes possible integration of past acquisitions that may put a strain on the company’s cash and impact free cash flow estimates.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

MAG Aerospace and L3Harris Technologies provide enhanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft to support the Army’s Theater Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne ISR Radar (ATHENA-R) program. The ATHENA-R aircraft, converted Bombardier Global Express 6500s with ISR mission capabilities, will support U.S. Army missions in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area. Designed to close the gap between the Army’s medium- and high-altitude ISR aircraft fleet, the ATHENA-R provides longer range, greater endurance, more capacity for bigger payloads and standoff ranges, as well as leading-edge sensor technology.

The partnership with L3Harris should deliver breakthrough C5ISR capability to Army combatant commands, said Joseph Reale, CEO, MAG Aerospace. The two companies will equip the aircraft with new radar and electronic and communications intelligence capabilities. MAG delivers world-class command, control, computers, communications, cyber and ISR service delivery expertise to bring turnkey disruptive technology to U.S. government and allied customers around the world. L3Harris currently operates a Bombardier Global Series jet as part of its Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES) supporting Army Pacific Command and expands its extensive Army ISR portfolio as part of the L3Harris and MAG ATHENA partnership.

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army: Leidos Holdings

Reston, Virginia-based Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a science and technology company, has been awarded a prime contracts by the U.S. Army to support the U.S. Army. One example is the Geospatial Center’s (AGC) High-Resolution Three Dimensional (HR3D) Geospatial Information Operation and Technology Integration program. That single-award contract has a total estimated value of $600 million if all options are exercised.

The period of performance for the contract includes a one-year base, as well as three one-year options. Work will be performed predominately in Virginia and other locations.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army: BofA Recommends Favorites

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army: $600 Million Geospatial Center Support

The company produces combat vehicles, nuclear-powered submarines and communications systems to provide safety and security during military missions. General Dynamics employs more than 100,000 people worldwide and generated $38.5 billion in revenue in 2021. Woods noted that the company pays a dividend that currently yields more than 2%.

General Dynamics also received a “buy” recommendation from BofA, which set a price objective of $305, based partly on a 5.0% 2025-2030 growth rate and 2.8% long-term growth rate, as well as increased defense budget expectations. BofA wrote that the company’s defense program provides exposure to land and sea priorities, coupled with its Gulfstream business jet manufacturing segment, offering near-term and medium-term organic growth.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army: Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), a multinational aerospace and defense technology company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, is one of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers and military technology providers with 90,000 employees and $30 billion-plus in annual revenue. It also is a recommendation of BofA and has the potential to rise 20-25% in the next 12-18 months compared to the company’s current share price, said Michelle Connell, a former portfolio manager who heads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Michelle Connell leads Dallas-based Portia Capital Management.

Increased geopolitical tensions do not look likely to end soon and defense stocks should continue to have an allocation in an investor’s portfolio, Connell counseled. Until the “exacerbated pullback” in the markets, defense stocks such as Northrop Grumman had performed very well, she added.

Northrop Grumman stands out from the defense pack, Connell said, partly due to:

-Developing the first B-21 bomber for the Air Force, after the company passed its first round of tests about the efficacy of the bomber that is expected to be released in 2023.

-Preparing next-generation ballistic missile systems under the name of Sentinel.

-Growing three-year revenue and profits strongly, even though sales were weak in the last quarter due to shortages of labor and supply chain issues that could continue into the rest of 2022.

Interested buyers of the stock may want to wade in with purchases and take a first step before July 29 to receive the next dividend payment, Connell advised.

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army Supported by Institutional Buying

“I take some solace in knowing that before the recent pullback, the stock volume and institutional buying for NOC had increased,” Connell said.

BofA derived a $550 price objective on the stock, partially due to a 4% year over year growth rate for 2025-2030 estimates and a 2.5% long-term growth rate. In addition, the U.S. Defense Budget Authorization has grown at a 1.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in constant dollars since post World War II, BofA’s Epstein wrote.

Northrop Grumman’s growth rate may exceed the industry norm with the most profitable production phase of the B-21 Raider program starting in about 10 years and the U.S. Air Force’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) entering production at the end of this decade. The GBSD is the replacement weapon system for the aging LGM-30 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system.

Potential risks to the stock include possible defense program cost overruns and margin contractions. Further stumbles could come from unexpected cancellations to both the company’s commercial and military programs.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army Cannot Safeguard China from COVID

Satellite images of Chinese cities have shown crowding at crematoriums and funeral homes, with the world’s most populous country waging a battle with a new wave of COVID-19 infections after relaxing its strict pandemic restrictions.

The number of COVID-19 cases has reached a record high in mainland China, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). However, cases in China reportedly have fallen in recent weeks, but possibly due to reduced availability of tests to detect cases.

The U.S. government began requiring negative COVID-19 tests starting Thursday, Jan. 5, for all passengers seeking to enter the country from China after the latter country’s spike in COVID-19 cases. France and several other countries also mandated clean COVID-19 tests for passengers arriving from China, reflecting global concern that new variants could emerge in the ongoing outbreak.

China has been accused of lacking transparency since the virus emerged in late 2019. Critics contend China may not be sharing data about evolving strains that may spark fresh outbreaks in other countries.

Along with the United States, Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan and Italy have announced passengers from China will need to test negative for COVID. An internal meeting of China’s National Health Commission estimated that up to 248 million people contracted the coronavirus during the first 20 days of December. COVID-19 still is roaring through cities in China.

Satellite images of Chinese cities have shown crowded crematoriums and funeral homes, with the world’s most populous country battling a new wave of COVID-19 infections after relaxing its strict pandemic restrictions. The number of COVID-19 cases has reached a record high in mainland China, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). However, cases in China reportedly have fallen in recent weeks, possibly due to reduced availability of tests.

China has been accused of lacking transparency since the virus emerged in late 2019. Critics contend China may not be sharing data about evolving strains and fresh outbreaks.

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army as COVID Cases Surge

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths soared to 6,737,944 people, with total cases of 668,580,496, Johns Hopkins announced on Jan. 20. COVID-19 cases in the United States totaled 101,998,621, while deaths reached 1,104,103, as of Jan. 20, according to Johns Hopkins University. Until reports found China had 248 million cases of COVID-19, America had ranked as the nation with the most coronavirus cases and deaths.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 268,765,902 people, or 81.0% the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as of Jan. 18. People who have completed the primary COVID-19 doses totaled 229,08,443 of the U.S. population, or 69.1%, according to the CDC. The United States has given a bivalent COVID-19 booster to 47,859,040 people who are age 18 and up, equaling 18.5% as of Jan. 18, up from 18.2% on Jan. 11, 17.7% as of Jan. 4, 17.3% as of Dec. 28, rising from 16.8% the previous week, up from 16.3% the week before that one and and jumping from 15.5% the preceding week.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s secret Dec. 21 flight to Washington, D.C., allowed him to speak face-to-face with U.S. President Joe Biden to advocate for needed military equipment to defend effectively against Russia’s continuing attacks. Zelensky’s address to a joint session of Congress that evening appears to have swayed many U.S. lawmakers. The surprise visit marked Zelensky’s first international trip since Russia’s invasion.

Russia is sustaining its onslaught of intensified strikes that began in October, targeting civilianUkraine’s energy and civilian infrastructure.

Seven Dividend-paying Defense Stocks Serving the U.S. Army Amid Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Even though Russia’s leaders describe their attack of Ukraine launched on Feb. 24 as a “special military operation,” its soldiers are intensifying their assault of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. One of Russia’s military leaders claimed his troops had gained control of a key nearby city in eastern Ukraine called Soledar.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently cautioned that time is short for the United States and other Western countries to provide Ukraine with the advanced weapons it needs prior to a stepped-up Russian offensive in the spring. Ukraine not only needs the weapons but training in how to use them.

The seven-dividend-paying defense stocks serving the U.S. Army also supply the Ukraine and other places seeking to preserve freedom from invading nations. Billions of dollars of Western weapons have been sent to Ukraine and others reportedly are on the way. With Russia’s military releasing criminals to serve in the front lines of attacks to let commanders identify pockets of Ukrainian resistance, then have contractor solider Kremlin leaders have called up 300,000 conscripts and plans to expand the eligible age for its draft as part of an announced strategy to wage a long-term war that should continue to attract investors to dividend-paying defense investments that focus on protecting freedom around the world.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, Guru Focus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Special Holiday Offer: Paul is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The uplifting book is great gift and is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others. Call 202-677-4457 for special pricing on multiple-book purchases.