There’s a reason energy outfit Oneok isn’t falling with most other energy names right now.
Real estate investment trust Sun Communities may be one of the sector’s best-kept secrets.
Business consulting and service provider Accenture isn’t nearly as vulnerable to AI as the stock’s recent performance suggests.
Some investors are currently focused on falling artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, and understandably so. In addition to the misery this setback has already dished out, the weakness has bigger-picture implications. Namely, it could mark the start of a broader sell-off.
This is precisely the time to make some smart, long-term moves for your portfolio, while few others are considering the same.
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To this end, if you're an income investor seeking some new dividend payers, here are three dividend stocks to consider in the midst of all the noise.
Image source: Getty Images.
The prospective wind-down of hostilities between the United States and Iran has let oil prices peel back from their April peak to a multi-month low just last week, dragging most energy stocks down with it.
There's a reason, however, Oneok (NYSE: OKE) is defying this headwind. It's a midstream energy company, meaning it owns and operates 60,000 miles of pipelines that transport both oil and natural gas from one point to another, regardless of the price of either. It charges by volume, however, meaning that as long as the country continues consuming both, Oneok's toll booth keeps churning out revenue.
This is an ideal business model for a dividend-paying business. To this end, the company has not only paid a dividend like clockwork for decades, but raises it on a reliably regular basis.
Most investors are probably familiar with the market's better-known real estate investment trusts (REITs). Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI) is not one of these names.
Perhaps it should be, though, not because its forward-looking yield of 3.7% is wildly thrilling, but because this often-overlooked REIT is quietly building an impressive dividend pedigree. The company has now raised its dividend payout for nine consecutive years.
Sun Communities owns a bunch of mobile home and RV parking rental properties, by the way, which is proving to be a surprisingly resilient market.
Finally, add Accenture (NYSE: ACN) to your list of dividend stocks to buy while the market is distracted.
Accenture offers a range of business services, including marketing, technology installation, supply chain optimization, personnel recruitment, and more. Its customers include names like Bosch, Levi's, Spotify, and Uber, just to name a few.
The stock hasn't performed all that well for a while now. In fact, shares are now down more than 60% from last February's peak, mostly due to worries that the proliferation of artificial intelligence tools poses a threat to its business.
And in some way, maybe it does.
It's not quite the danger the stock's recent performance suggests, as artificial intelligence still can't handle much of the real-world, physical work that Accenture is doing. To the extent it is a threat, however, the company is using AI -- and helping its clients use it -- rather than simply ignoring it. The stock's prolonged sell-off has simply pumped its forward-looking dividend yield up to a solid 5.1%.
That's based on an annual dividend, by the way, which has been raised every year for a couple of decades now.
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James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Accenture Plc, Spotify Technology, and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends Oneok and Sun Communities and recommends the following options: long January 2028 $260 calls on Accenture Plc and short January 2028 $280 calls on Accenture Plc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.