3 Dividend Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist in June

If you want to be a savvy investor, you should know what this table is telling you:

Data source: Ned Davis Research and Hartford Funds.

As it starkly shows, it’s hard to beat healthy and growing dividend-paying stocks if you’re looking to boost your wealth over time. Here, then, are three to consider.

1. Pfizer

Let’s start with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (PFE +1.34%). It’s a compelling dividend payer largely because of its dividend yield — recently a fat 6.7%. That payout is hefty in large part because the stock has averaged annual losses of about 7% over the past three years. (It’s up 17% over the past year, though, as of June 4.) When a stock’s price falls, its dividend yield rises, so many high-yielders have been facing some kind of struggle.

Today’s Change

(1.34%) $0.34

Current Price

$26.04

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$148B

Day’s Range

$25.80 – $26.20

52wk Range

$23.11 – $28.75

Volume

1.2M

Avg Vol

36.9M

Gross Margin

65.16%

Dividend Yield

6.61%

A key challenge for Pfizer has been the patent protection expiration of some of its biggest sellers. That’s an issue for every pharmaceutical company, and one which they typically tackle by having a pipeline filled with promising drugs in development — and/or by acquiring such promising drugs from other companies. Pfizer is doing both.

Pfizer’s shares seem undervalued, too, with a recent forward P/E ratio of 9.0, well below the five-year average of 9.7.

2. United Parcel Service (UPS)

United Parcel Service (UPS 1.52%) is another stock with a massive dividend yield, recently 7.7%. It, too, has posted average annual losses over the past three years, 8.6%. But as with Pfizer, there’s a lot to like about UPS.

Today’s Change

(-1.52%) $-1.68

Current Price

$108.54

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$92B

Day’s Range

$108.52 – $110.70

52wk Range

$82.00 – $122.41

Volume

4M

Avg Vol

6.2M

Gross Margin

18.32%

Dividend Yield

6.04%

Detractors are wringing their hands over UPS’s decision to cut back on the deliveries it makes for Amazon.com (AMZN 3.06%), but that’s far from a death knell. Others see that as a smart move, because that arrangement has largely been a low-profit-margin one for UPS. The company is now focusing more on serving higher-margin customers, such as small and medium-sized businesses and the healthcare sector.

UPS’ first-quarter report featured overall domestic revenue down 2.3%, while revenue per package grew 6.5%. Internationally, revenue rose by 3.8%, with revenue per package popping by 12.1%. The company’s shares seem reasonably valued, with a recent forward P/E ratio of 14, a bit below the five-year average of 15. Long-term believers in the UPS plan will be paid handsomely while they wait.

3. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

My last suggestion is not exactly a stock. It’s an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that trades like a stock. It’s the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD 0.89%), which recently yielded a solid 3.25% and parks investors’ money across roughly 100 dividend payers such as Qualcomm (QCOM 10.72%), Texas Instruments (TXN 6.55%), and UnitedHealth Group (UNH +1.02%). (UPS shares were among its top 30 holdings recently, too.)

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

Today’s Change

(-0.89%) $-0.29

Current Price

$32.30

Key Data Points

Day’s Range

$32.29 – $32.66

52wk Range

$26.16 – $32.91

Volume

26.8M

The ETF offers a compelling mix of both income and growth — indeed, it was up nearly 20% year to date as of June 4. It’s a good choice instead of investing in individual dividend payers on your own or in addition to doing so.