Finding attractive dividend stocks you can hold isn’t too difficult. Finding dividend stocks you can comfortably buy and hold forever is a different story. For your truly long-term holdings, you’ll want companies that are not only leading names with staying power, but that also operate in resilient markets — a rarer set of criteria.
Of course, if such a stock is on sale at the time you’re ready to take the plunge, so much the better. Buying a ticker when it’s discounted will ultimately raise the net returns on your invested dollars.
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These three magnificent S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) stocks are down right now for reasons that aren’t likely to last. In fact, they’re all already rising from their recently made cyclical lows.
As the biggest name in the wireless telecom business (at least within the U.S.), Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) needs no introduction. It also has no obvious competitive advantage other than its slightly larger size than its two chief rivals. Cell phone service has largely become commodified these days.
There are a couple of less obvious details about the company, however, that are worth highlighting.
First, while the U.S. mobile phone market is almost fully saturated (Pew reports that 98% of U.S. adults own a cellphone), Verizon also manages an institution-oriented business that offers corporate intra-connectivity services, private 5G networks, and edge computing, as well as industry-specific solutions like utility smart-grid management tools and connected automobile solutions. Although this business currently accounts for only about one-fourth of Verizon’s revenue, it’s a path to more growth than could be achieved via its mobile phone service alone. For instance, market research outfit IDC predicts that worldwide spending on edge computing technologies will grow at an annualized pace of 14% through 2028.
And the other key reason this telecom giant is a superior long-term dividend payer is its massive fiber-optic…
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