During times of turbulence and uncertainty in the markets, many investors turn to dividend-yielding stocks. These are often companies that have high free cash flows and reward shareholders with a high dividend payout.
Benzinga readers can review the latest analyst takes on their favorite stocks by visiting our Analyst Stock Ratings page. Traders can sort through Benzinga's extensive database of analyst ratings, including by analyst accuracy.
Below are the ratings of the most accurate analysts for three high-yielding stocks in the utilities sector.
Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)
- Dividend Yield: 3.12%
- Baird analyst Ben Kallo maintained an Outperform rating and cut the price target from $44 to $43 on May 6. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 64%.
- Evercore ISI Group analyst Durgesh Chopra maintained an Outperform rating and cut the price target from $51 to $42 on March 4. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 63%.
- Recent News: On May 2, Essential Utilities posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES)
- Dividend Yield: 3.21%
- Mizuho analyst Anthony Crowdellinitiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a price target of $21 on April 18. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 64%.
- RBC Capital analyst Shelby Tuckerreiterated an Outperform rating with a price target of $22 on April 9. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 66%.
- Recent News: On May 15, AES agreed to sell its equity interest in AES Brasil to Auren Energia for $640 million.
The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)
- Dividend Yield: 3.63%
- Mizuho analyst Anthony Crowdell maintained a Buy rating and increased the price target from $73 to $76 on April 2. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 64%.
- BMO Capital analyst JamesThalackerreiterated an Outperform rating and raised the price target from $72 to $76 on April 1. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 69%.
- Recent News: On May 2, Southern Company reported a first-quarter 2024 operating revenue decline of 2.6% year-over-year to $6.646 billion, missing the consensus of $6.558 billion.
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