3 US dividend stocks to watch ahead of Christmas

Highlights:

• Medtronic plc. (NYSE: MDT) paid a dividend of US$ 0.68 per share.
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has a market cap of US$ 469.95 billion.
• Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) has a dividend yield of 2.40 per cent.

Dividend stocks offer a regular income stream for investors willing to go by a long-term strategy. Especially during times like this, when the stock market is plagued by 40-year high inflation. Still, the volatility is so high in 2022 that nothing can be predicted for any stock, be it a dividend stock or any other category.

Here, we look at three US dividend stocks- Medtronic plc. (NYSE: MDT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) and analyze their performances in the latest quarter:

Medtronic plc. (NYSE: MDT)

Among the largest medical device companies in the US, Medtronic deals in therapeutic medical devices for chronic diseases. The US$ 106.60 billion market cap company develops and manufactures a range of medical devices, including pacemakers, heart valves, defibrillators, stents, spinal fixation devices, insulin pumps, neurovascular products, etc.

With a dividend yield of 3.412 per cent, Medtronic paid a US$ 0.68 per share dividend. Its three-year dividend growth is 6.63.

In Q2 2023, Medtronic posted a revenue of US$ 7.6 billion which shrank three per cent from US$ 7.8 billion in the year-ago quarter. It reported net sales of US$ 7,585 million in the second quarter of FY23 compared to US$ 7,847 million in the same comparative period in 2022.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)

The world’s largest diversified healthcare firm, Johnson & Johnson, holds a dividend yield of 2.542 per cent with five-year dividend growth of 5.56. It paid a quarterly dividend of US$ 1.13 apiece to its shareholders.

With its three divisions- pharmaceutical, medical devices and diagnostics, and consumer, Johnson & Johnson have a market capitalization of US$ 469.95 billion.

Johnson & Johnson’s Q3 2022 net earnings were reported at US$ 4,458 million compared to US$ 3,667 million in the third quarter of 2021. It achieved a gross profit of US$ 15,984 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 versus US$ 16,088 million in the year-ago quarter.

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Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG)

Procter & Gamble, one of the world's largest consumer product manufacturers, has a market capitalization of US$ 360.76 billion. It generates over US$ 80 billion in annual sales. With a dividend yield of 2.40 per cent, Procter & Gamble paid a quarterly dividend of US$ 0.913 per share. Its three-year dividend growth is 5.80.

In its first quarter of fiscal 2023 results, Procter & Gamble posted net sales of US$ 20.6 billion compared to US$ 20.3 billion in the previous year's first quarter. Its diluted EPS in Q1 2023 was 1.57 versus 1.61 in Q1 2022. This decrease of two per cent in its diluted EPS was due to a decline in the operating margin.

The company stated that its current fiscal 2023 outlook braces headwinds of approximately US$ 1.3 billion after-tax due triggered by adverse foreign exchange rates.  

Bottom line:

Despite paying dividends, one should go ahead with stocks very carefully when the equity market is volatile. Take a long-term strategy while putting your bets on any stock to avoid shock to your portfolio. This year has been very tumultuous for investors, and it will take some time before things settle. So, do an in-depth analysis of stocks before making any decision.