Top Wall Street analysts pick these dividend stocks for 2025

In 2024, the major US indices performed well thanks to the buzz around artificial intelligence and lower interest rates. However, macro uncertainty could weigh on investor sentiment in 2025. In this case, investors looking for regular income may consider adding dividend stocks to their portfolios.

Top Wall Street analysts can help investors pick attractive dividend stocks that offer consistent payouts and are backed by strong fundamentals.

Here are three stocks that pay dividendshighlighted by Top Wall Street professionals as tracked by TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.

The capital of Ares

We start with The capital of Ares (ARCC), a specialized financial provider that offers financial solutions to privately held middle-market companies. With a quarterly dividend of 48 cents per share, ARCC stock offers a yield of 8.7%.

In an analytical note on the outlook for business development companies (BDCs) until 2025, RBC Capital analyst Kenneth Lee reiterated a buy rating on ARCC with a $23 price target, calling RBC stock a favorite BDC name for 2025.

“ARCC is a leader in the BDC space with the advantages of scale, a strong origination engine on the Ares direct lending platform (covering all MM segments), and ~20 years of experience and strong performance in the space,” Lee said.

The analyst emphasized that ARCC’s ability to offer clients flexible capital in a variety of financing solutions sets it apart from its peers. Lee also pointed to other strengths, including the company’s impressive history of managing risk through the cycle, access to Ares Credit Group’s resources and advantages of scale, given that it is the largest publicly traded BDC by assets.

Lee also highlighted ARCC’s dividend, which is underpinned by the company’s underlying earnings per share and potential net realized gains.

Lee is ranked #23 out of more than 9,200 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Its ratings were profitable 71% of the time, providing an average return of 18.1%. See Ares Capital’s ownership structure on TipRanks.

ConocoPhillips

Let’s move to ConocoPhillips (policeman), an oil and gas exploration and production company. In October, the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter profit and raised full-year production guidance to reflect the impact of operating efficiencies.

Moreover, ConocoPhillips increased its quarterly dividend by 34% to 78 cents per share and increased its existing share repurchase authorization to $20 billion. Based on an annual dividend per share of $3.12, COP stock offers a dividend yield of 3%.

In an analytical note on the outlook for oil and gas in the US, analyst Mizuho Nitin Kumar upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips to buy from hold and raised their price target to $134 from $132. “COP offers an enviable combination of long-term inventory, balance sheet strength and better cash flow,” Kumar said.

The analyst noted that the pullback of COP shares after the announcement Acquisition of Marathon Oil indicates that moderate inventory dilution from the deal has already been priced into the stock. In addition, Kumar noted the company’s confidence in achieving much greater than expected transaction synergies. Specifically, ConocoPhillips expects to receive about $1 billion annually in synergies, more than double the original target of $500 million.

Kumar also emphasized that COP expects its capital expenditures to be below $13 billion in 2025, which could translate into additional free cash flow. The analyst believes that with a growing LNG footprint and strong commercial marketing, the company is well positioned to benefit from rising global LNG demand and international pricing.

Kumar is ranked #336 out of more than 9,200 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Its ratings were profitable 58% of the time, providing an average return of 12.1%. See ConocoPhillips Insider Trading on TipRanks.

Darden restaurants

Finally, let’s take a look Darden restaurants (DRI), a restaurant company that owns several popular brands such as Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. The company recently announced its results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 and raised its annual sales guidance.

Along with the company’s Q2 FY25 results declared a quarterly dividend of $1.40 per sharewhich is payable on February 3. With a quarterly dividend of $1.40 per share (annual dividend of $5.60), DRI offers a yield of about 3%.

According to the BTIG analyst Peter Saleh reiterated a buy rating on DRI stock and raised its price target to $205 from $195, saying “management has several levers to achieve full-year guidance.” He believes that while the results were encouraging, the impact of the hurricanes and the calendar shift to Thanksgiving overshadowed some favorable sales trends.

Highlighting the strong performance of the LongHorn Steakhouse and Olive Garden chains, the analyst noted that the increase in visits by low- and middle-income consumers represents a marked reversal from trends seen in recent quarters.

Among other positives, Saleh also pointed to a faster-than-expected rollout of Uber Eats delivery and a narrowing of the price gap with quick-service restaurants thanks to Darden’s low-key pricing. The analyst expects all these positive factors to lead to strong performance in the second half of FY2025. Overall, Saleh sees Darden as an industry-leading restaurant operator that delivers steady revenue growth at a profitable valuation.

Saleh is ranked #366 out of more than 9,200 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Its ratings were profitable 62% of the time, providing an average return of 11.8%. See Darden Restaurant Hedge Fund Activity on TipRanks.