Buy 10 Sustainable Dividend Dogs Of Barron’s August 100

Foreword

This article is based on 100 top sustainable companies based on Calvert Research and Management’s annual review of more than 230 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance indicators, such as workplace diversity, data security, and greenhouse-gas emissions, as reported in the February 26, 2024 edition of Barron’s weekly.

How Barron’s determined their list

“To build Barron’s seventh annual ranking of the most sustainable companies, Calvert Research and Management started with the 1,000 largest publicly traded companies by market value, then ranked each by how it performed for five key constituencies: shareholders, employees, customers, community, and the planet.

Specifically, Calvert looked at more than 230 ESG performance indicators, such as workplace diversity, data security, and greenhouse-gas emissions.

Based on these indicators, Calvert assigned a score of zero to 100 in each stakeholder category. Then it created a weighted average of the categories for each company, based on how financially material each category was for its industry peer group.

To make the list, a company had to be rated above the bottom quarter in each of the material stakeholder categories. If it performed poorly in any key category that was financially material, it was disqualified.

The top 100, ranked by sustainability, appear in the table at the bottom. Those were the best performers of 2023 reported in this 2024 report.”

– Barron’s editors

Any collection of stocks is more clearly understood when subjected to yield-based (dogcatcher) analysis. These 100 publicly traded Most Sustainable dogs are perfect for the dogcatcher process. Here, their August 8 data focused on 77 dividend payers. The full list of 100 is posted in the Afterword at the tail of this article.

Happily, 10 of the 77 dividend-paying Sustainable companies live up to the Dogcatcher ideal of showing annual dividends from a $1K investment, exceeding their single share prices. As of 8/8/24, they are NextEra Energy Partners (NEP), Franklin Resources Inc. (BEN), Avangrid Inc. (AGR), Regions Financial Corp. (RF), The Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC), The Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG), Citizens Financial Group Inc. (CFG), Exelon Corp. (EXC), Hormel Foods (HRL), and HP Inc. (HPQ). Many first-time investors regard this condition as a buy signal or, at least, an invitation to look-closer.

Actionable Conclusions (1-10): Analysts Estimated 15.3% To 49.52% Net Gains For Ten Top ESG Companies To August 2025

Four of ten top 2024 ESG company stocks by yield were among the top ten gainers for the coming year based on analyst 1-year target prices. (They are tinted gray in the chart below). Thus, the yield-based forecast for these ESG top dogs was graded by Wall St. Wizards as 40% accurate.

Estimated dividends from $1000 invested in each of the highest-yielding stocks plus their aggregated one-year analyst median target prices, as reported by YCharts, supplied the data points. Note: target prices from less than two analysts were not counted. Thus, ten probable profit-generating trades projected to August 8, 2025 were:

Barron’s Top Ten Sustainable August Dogs By Net Gains

The Estee Lauder Companies (EL) was projected to net $495.16, based on the median of target estimates from 26 analysts, plus dividends, less broker fees. The Beta number showed this estimate subject to risk/volatility 1% under the market as a whole.

Target Corp. (TGT) was projected to net $303.28 based on dividends, plus the median of target estimates from 31 brokers, less transaction fees. The Beta number showed this estimate subject to risk/volatility 20% greater than the market as a whole.

NextEra Energy Partners LP was projected to net $274.40, based on the median of target prices from 14 analysts, plus annual dividends, less broker fees. The Beta number showed this estimate subject to risk/volatility 3% over the market as a whole.

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) was projected to net $238.60, based on the median of target price estimates from 26 analysts, plus annual dividend, less broker fees. The Beta number showed this estimate subject to risk/volatility 62% less than the market as a whole.

MetLife Inc. (MET) was projected to net $204.41 based on a median of target price estimates from 13 analysts, plus dividends, less broker fees. The Beta number showed this estimate subject to risk/volatility 6% greater than the market as a whole.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) was projected to net $200.62, based on dividends, plus the median of target price estimates from 22 analysts, less broker fees. The Beta number showed this estimate subject to risk/volatility 35% over the market as a whole.

Hasbro Inc. (HAS) was projected to net $178.06, from dividends, plus the median of target price estimates from 13 analysts, less broker fees. The Beta number showed this estimate subject to risk/volatility 38% less than the market as a whole.

Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) was projected to net $178.03, based on dividends, plus the median of target price estimates from 12 analysts, less broker fees. The Beta number showed this estimate subject to risk/volatility 5% less than the market as a whole.

Regions Financial Corp. was projected to net 160.99, based on dividends, plus the median of the target price estimates from 24 analysts, less broker fees. The Beta number showed this estimate subject to risk/volatility 19% greater than the market as a whole.

The Kraft Heinz Co. was projected to net $152.96, based on dividends, plus the median of target price estimates from 20 analysts, less broker fees. The Beta number showed this estimate subject to risk/volatility 47% less than the market as a whole.

The average net gain in dividend and price was estimated at 23.87% on $10k invested as $1k in each of these ten stocks. These gain estimates were subject to average risk/volatility 7% under the market as a whole.

The Dividend Dogs Rule

Stocks earned the “dog” moniker by exhibiting three traits: (1) paying reliable, repeating dividends, (2) their prices fell to where (3) yield (dividend/price) grew higher than their peers. Thus, the highest yielding stocks in any collection became known as “dogs.” More precisely, these are, in fact, best called, “underdogs”.

50 Barron’s ESG Dogs Showed August Analyst Target Gains

50 Barron’s ESG Dogs Reveal August Yields

Actionable Conclusions (11-20): 10 Top Barron’s ESG Dogs By Yield For August

Top yield ten August 2024 Barron’s ESG stocks represented five of eleven Morningstar sectors.

The first of three utilities representatives placed first, NextEra Energy Partners LP [1]. The other two placed third and eighth, Avangrid Inc [3], and Eversource Energy (ES) [8].

Then three financial services stocks occupied the second, fourth, and fifth places: Franklin Resources Inc. [2], Regions Financial Corp. [4], and Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU)[5].

Two consumer cyclical (discretionary) representatives placed sixth and ninth, Best Buy [6] and Hasbro Inc. [9].

Then the lone consumer defensive (staple) stock occupied seventh place, The Kraft Heinz Co. [7].

Finally, the lone communication services representative took the tenth place, The Interpublic Group of Companies [10] to complete the top ten August 2024-25 list of Barron’s ESG stocks by yield.

Actionable Conclusions: (21-30) Top Ten Barron’s ESG Dividend Dogs Showed 12.12%-23.16% Upsides While (31) Five Lowly Downsiders Sagged -0.53% to -7.63% in July

To quantify top dog rankings, analyst median price target estimates provided a “market sentiment” gauge of upside potential. Added to the simple high-yield metrics, analyst median target price estimates became another tool to dig out bargains.

Analysts Forecast A 19.48% Advantage For The 5 Highest Yield, Lowest Priced Of Ten 2024 Barron’s ESG Dividend Stocks Come August 2025

Yield (dividend / price) results provided by YCharts did the ranking for these ten dividend August Barron’s ESG stocks.

As noted above, top ten dividend Barron’s ESG dogs screened 7/11/24 showing the highest dividend yields represented five of eleven in the Morningstar sector scheme.

Actionable Conclusions: Analysts Predicted 5 Lowest-Priced Of The Top Ten Highest-Yield Barron’s ESG Dividend Dogs (32) Delivering 17.18% Vs. (33) 14.38% Net Gains by All Ten Come August 2025

$5000 invested as $1k in each of the five lowest-priced stocks in the top ten dividend Barron’s ESG kennel by yield were predicted by analyst 1-year targets to deliver 19.48% more gain than $5,000 invested as $.5K in all ten. The third lowest-priced selection, Next Era Energy, was projected to deliver the best net gain of 27.44%

The five lowest-priced top-yield Barron’s ESG dividend dogs as of August 8 were: Regions Financial, Franklin Resources, NextEra Energy, The Interpublic Group, Kraft Heinz, with prices ranging from $20.83 to $35.21.

Five higher-priced Barron’s ESG dividend dogs as of August 8 were: Avangrid, Hasbro, Eversource, Best Buy, Prudential, whose prices ranged from $35.77 to $108.72.

The distinction between five low-priced dividend dogs and the general field of ten reflected Michael B. O’Higgins’ “basic method” for beating the Dow. The scale of projected gains based on analyst targets added a unique element of “market sentiment” gauging upside potential. It provided a here-and-now equivalent of waiting a year to find out what might happen in the market. Caution is advised, since analysts are historically only 20% to 90% accurate on the direction of change and just 0% to 15% accurate on the degree of change.

The net gain/loss estimates above did not factor in any foreign or domestic tax problems resulting from distributions. Consult your tax advisor regarding the source and consequences of “dividends” from any investment.

Afterword

If somehow you missed the suggestion of the stocks primed to buy at the start of the article, here is a repeat of the list at the end.

Happily, 10 of the 77 dividend-paying ESG companies live up to my Dogcatcher ideal of paying annual dividends from a $1K investment exceeding their single share prices. As of 8/8/24, they are: NextEra Energy, Franklin Resources, Avangrid, Regions Financial, Kraft Heinz, Interpublic Group, Citizens Financial, Exelon, Hormel, and HP. Many first-time investors regard this condition as a buy signal or, at least, an invitation to look-closer.

Recent vs Fair-Price Charts

Six of the top-ten Barron’s ESG shares are priced less than the annual dividends paid out from a $1K investment. Therefore, the dollar and percentage differences between current and fair prices are detailed in the top chart. The middle chart compares those six fair priced with all ten at current prices, and the fair pricing of all ten top dogs (conforming to the dogcatcher ideal) is shown in the bottom chart.

Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable Companies As Ranked For 2024-25

Stocks listed above were suggested only as possible reference points for your Barron’s ESG stock purchase or sale research process. These were not recommendations.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed to constitute investment advice. Nothing contained herein shall constitute a solicitation, recommendation or endorsement to buy or sell any security. Prices and returns on equities in this article except as noted are listed without consideration of fees, commissions, taxes, penalties, or interest payable due to purchasing, holding, or selling same.

Graphs and charts were compiled by Rydlun & Co., LLC from data derived from www.indexarb.com; YCharts.com; finance.yahoo.com; analyst mean target price by YCharts. Dog art: Open source dog art from dividenddogcatcher.com.