Top analysts suggest these 3 dividend stocks for steady income

The ongoing earnings season, investors’ concerns about the durability of AI demand and spending, and geopolitical risks are key factors contributing to stock market volatility in recent trading sessions.

In this scenario, investors looking to generate stable income may consider adding dividend stocks to their portfolio. Advice from top Wall Street analysts can help them choose attractive dividend stocks backed by solid cash flow to support consistent payouts.

Here are three dividend-paying stocks highlighted by Wall Street’s top pros, tracked by TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.

ConocoPhillips

Oil and gas exploration and production company ConocoPhillips This week’s first dividend pick. With a dividend of 84 cents per share ($3.36 annual dividend per share), POLICE It offers a 3% dividend yield. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter results on August 6.

Wells Fargo analyst Sam Margolin reiterated his buy rating on COP shares ahead of second-quarter results. $183 price target. Despite the pressure on oil prices from the increase in OPEC production quota, analyst ConocoPhillips and Shell As earnings season approaches, stocks become attractive. He cited their operational visibility and resilience as factors supporting their appeal.

The 5-star analyst expects ConocoPhillips to hit its production target of 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day at the midpoint. It expects lower Waha natural gas prices in the Permian Basin to be offset by strong Brent crude premiums. Margolin expects capital expenditures to remain within the COP’s predetermined $12.2 billion annual range and not have a significant impact on spending on the Northfield East project in Qatar, despite the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.

Overall, Margolin expects COP to generate approximately $3.5 billion in free cash flow (before working capital) and earnings per share of $2.94. He expects COP’s free cash flow strength to continue and steady dividend growth upon completion of the Willow project in 2028/2029. Before the Willow project comes online, the analyst expects free cash flow to increase by about $2 billion in 2027 and 2028, assuming Brent crude oil averages around $60 per barrel.

“COP’s track record of capital efficiency and strong Permian well productivity underpins its ability to pursue long-term developments,” Margolin said.

Margolin is ranked #457 out of more than 12,300 analysts tracked by TipRanks. It did well in the ratings 70% of the time and delivered an average return of 13.3%. Check out ConocoPhillips Financials on TipRanks.

Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer It is a limited partnership that operates 140,000 miles of pipeline and associated energy infrastructure. With a quarterly cash distribution of 33.75 cents per common unit ($1.35 per unit on an annualized basis), MEAT It offers a 6.8% return.

Heading into Energy Transfer’s Q2 earnings call on Aug. 4, Jefferies analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith reaffirmed his buy rating on ET shares. price target $23. The analyst said its $4.46 billion estimate of adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization was 1% below the Street’s consensus of $4.49 billion.

5-star analyst noted Energy Transfer performed slightly better Enterprise Product Partners Lately. However, it still trades at a 19% relative discount to EPD, which is below the historical discount range of 17%-20%. Smith believes ET shares could be rated higher again if the company presents a clearer long-term strategy for growth in natural gas.

Additionally, Smith expects the current energy market to support a stronger outlook for natural gas liquids and crude oil. “The current energy macro backdrop positions ET to benefit from all three commodities,” the analyst said.

It expects Energy Transfer’s adjusted EBITDA to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.8% in 2027-2030; This is 1% to 3% above Wall Street expectations. In fact, Smith sees the possibility of additional bullishness if ET announces more natural gas projects. He added that investors will await details on final investment decisions on new natural gas projects and clues about additional projects in the plan. The analyst noted that ET has been constantly announcing new gas projects in recent quarters.

Smith is ranked #550 out of more than 12,300 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Their ratings were profitable 64% of the time, with an average return of 10.4%. See Energy Transfer Statistics on TipRanks.

Strip

Finally, let’s look at the energy giant StripIt is scheduled to report second-quarter results on July 31. Last month, the company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.78 per share. With an annual dividend of $7.12, CVX It offers a 3.92% dividend yield.

Ahead of second-quarter earnings, Jefferies analyst Lloyd Byrne reiterated his buy rating and downgraded Chevron shares. price target $216 It starts at $236. Byrne expects the company to report adjusted earnings per share of about $5.86 per share, about 9% above the Street’s expectations.

The 5-star analyst emphasized that the challenges seen in Chevron’s raw materials business in the first quarter due to the disruption in the Tengizchevroil joint venture in Kazakhstan, downtime at Storm Fern and the Middle East conflict have largely been resolved. As a result, Byrne expects throughput to recover in the second quarter to around 4,033 mbps per day. It expects the raw materials sector to generate approximately $8.1 billion in adjusted earnings in the second quarter of 2026.

Meanwhile, Byrne expects Chevron to strengthen in both domestic and international markets, generating adjusted earnings of about $4.4 billion in the second quarter. The subsector benefited from higher crack spreads and strong refining performance.

Additionally, the analyst expects Chevron to generate $18.2 billion in cash flow from operations (before working capital changes) thanks to stronger earnings and approximately $2.2 billion in dividends from subsidiaries. Unlike the first quarter, Chevron is not expected to make TCO loan repayments in the second quarter, which will provide an additional boost to cash flow.

Byrne is ranked #409 out of more than 12,300 analysts tracked by TipRanks. It did well in the ratings 56% of the time and delivered an average return of 17.5%. See Chevron Ownership Structure on TipRanks.