As the United States stock market continues to drop, investors are turning their attention to defensive investments. Dividend stocks have always been an investor favorite when prices start to drop, providing immediate income that can potentially offset falling prices in other areas.
While dividend stocks usually aren’t also classified as growth stocks, some shares buck this trend and combine income with consistent price appreciation. These four dividend stocks have seen a share price increase of at least 15% in the last 30 days. Let’s take a look at what investment analysts have to say about future payout and price potential.
Gilead Sciences Shows 20% One-Month Price Pump
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and marketing therapies for liver diseases, inflammatory diseases, HIV and more. It’s also one of only a few biomedical stocks to offer a dividend, with a current dividend yield of 2.72% as of Mar. 11, 2025. Gilead has also grown its dividend over time, with a 2.74% annualized three-year growth.
GILD has seen its shares rise by 22% in the last month. Part of this jump in share prices is due to the company’s most recent earnings release. In the most recent quarter, Gilead Sciences reported a $1.90 EPS value, $0.23 higher than analysts’ estimated $1.67 consensus EPS.
Recent increases in institutional investments may also be contributing to higher share prices, with institutional investment purchases rising to $6.53 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024. While insider ownership remains exceptionally high at 83.67%, analysts remain split on price targets. Consensus price targets put the stock at a Moderate Buy level, with a potential downside of 11% in the next year.
CVS Announces New Openings, Sees Share Prices Rise
Despite closing more than 1,000 stores earlier this year, nationwide health and beauty retail chain CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) is seeing share prices rise with its newly announced reorganization. According to an announcement made to CNN, CVS is planning to open a series of smaller stores focusing on pharmaceutical essentials to remain competitive against rivals like Amazon.com and Target.
This reorganization, as well as a recent earnings announcement surprise, has resulted in a 20% price appreciation in CVS shares within the last 30 days. The company reported an EPS value of $1.19 on February 12th, beating estimates of $0.89 per share by more than 33%. This began the upward trend in analyst price targets, with earnings expected to grow by an additional 15% next year alone.
CVS is a top dividend stock for S&P 500 investors, with a 4.10% dividend yield as of Mar. 11, 2025. In addition to a consistently competitive yield, CVS is also a favorite for investors looking for income investments that are able to keep up with inflation. Its three-year annualized dividend growth rate is 9.97%, resulting in a payout of about 29% of the company’s available cash flow. However, before you buy, note the company’s current payout ratio of 72.68%, which could indicate a coming cut.
Verizon Rings in an Exceptionally High Dividend Yield
The United States' largest provider of mobile phone services, Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), catches the attention of analysts each time it reports earnings. The most recent quarter was no exception — and though Verizon barely missed estimates by $0.01 per share, its actual $1.10 EPS was able to send prices on a steady upward trend of 16% appreciation in the last 30 days.
Share prices aren’t the only thing rising with Verizon. The company is also a notable pick for long-term dividend increases, with a 20-year history of raising payouts. While its annualized three-year growth rate of 1.93% is less than notable considering Verizon’s nearly $200 billion market cap, this factors out to a high yield of 6.30% as of Mar. 11, 2025.
Current dips in U.S. share prices may present a buying opportunity for dividend investors, regardless of VZ’s one-month price spike. The stock’s P/E ratio remains low at 11.24, which may indicate that shares are being oversold due to market pressure. Institutional investment trends support this confidence, with $7.5 billion in shares bought in the fourth quarter of 2024.
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