Dividend.com analyzes the search patterns of our visitors each week. By sharing these trends with our readers, we hope to provide insights into what the financial world is concerned about and how to position your portfolio.
This week’s trending stocks center around Amazon making news with its $13.7 billion dollar bid to buy Whole Foods Markets. Cisco Systems made headlines as it released its new “intent-based” technology that helps it further battle malware and cyberattacks. Investors looked out for the Paris Air Show where Boeing debuted its new 797 airliner, which has already drawn attention of many potential buyers. Finally, the oil and gas sector was trending due to oil hitting its lowest levels in 10 months.
You can view our previous trends article here, which highlighted ExxonMobil’s intention to support the Paris Climate Accord, defying the U.S. presidential decision.
Amazon Gets Into Grocery Market by Buying Whole Foods
Grocery stocks gained interest of 377% and are this week’s top trending section of the market, especially Whole Foods Markets (WFM). Last week, the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon Inc. (AMZN), submitted a bid to buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion dollars. Whole Foods has over 460 stores located in the U.S. and Canada, giving Amazon exposure to its brick-and-mortar grocery world. Besides, Amazon has the golden opportunity to actually compete with Wal-Mart Inc. (WMT ), which has seen recent success with its own grocery division.
As a result, Whole Foods stock has jumped over 21% in the last week. Currently the deal is calculated to be worth $42 per share and would be below Wednesday’s closing price of $43.26. However, since the shoot up in price over the last few days, investors might wait for a pullback. In the meantime, Whole Foods offers a fairly reasonable dividend yield of 1.66% and has grown its dividend for the last five years in a row.
Check out our Dividend University section to learn more about dividend investing.
Cisco Fights Malware With Intent-Based Technology
Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO ) had an increase of 90% in readership this week, with its announcement of its new “intent-based” access networking products and services. This new type of network will be able to detect malware when it’s hidden in encrypted traffic, something it claims no other company can do. The company claims that its new encrypted traffic analytics system is the most advanced way to target anomalies across billions of devices and data. It is also able to detect pattern abnormalities within encrypted traffic without compromising privacy.
Based on this announcement, Cisco’s stock saw a modest increase of 1.5% in the last week. This comes as good news, as the stock has been lagging behind its other technology peers, being up only 5.36% on a year-to-date basis. On the positive side, Cisco offers a very favorable dividend, unlike most of its technology counterparts. The current dividend yield is 3.64% and Cisco has been consistent in raising its dividend since 2011.
Check out Cisco’s dividend history here.
Boeing Turns Heads in Paris With New 797
At the Paris Air Show this week, Boeing Co. (BA) unveiled its new jetliner that they are calling the “797.” This caused the defense and aerospace company to increase in readership by 50% this week. Boeing dubbed this new airliner as its “middle-market airplane” and it is the first new debut since the 787 Dreamliner over six years ago. The plane is designed to offer relief for congested airports like New York’s JFK or Los Angeles’ LAX. The 797 will hold up to 270 passengers for flights up to 10 hours at a time. With a high demand for new airliners, Boeing has seen at least 57 potential buyers for the new model of jetliner.
The stock has popped since the airshow, up over 4.8% in the last week. This continues the positive uptrend the stock has recently seen, with it being up over 27.9% on a year-to-date basis. For optimistic investors, the new release of the 797 may continue to give the stock an upward run, especially with a dividend yield of 2.85%.
You can use our Dividend Screener to search relevant dividend-paying stocks based on different parameters.
Energy Stocks Tank After Oil Hits 10-Month Low
The energy sector has taken a beating this year, thanks to tumbling oil prices, and is the fourth-most trending area, up by 19%. Oil prices fell to an intraday low of $42.13 on Wednesday, the lowest level since August 2016. With OPEC trying to shift petroleum balances, the market is not reacting in a positive manner. Oil prices have fallen over 25% year-to-date and have taken several energy stocks down with them. One of the highest-yielding stocks in the energy sector is Royal Dutch Shell PLC ADR (RDS-A ), which has a current yield of 7.20%. Despite falling 2.89% in the last week, the stock has held up relatively well in relation to oil and is only down 3.95% year-to-date.
The United Kingdom-based company has protected itself from oil’s downward spiral by cutting back capital expenditure, lowering costs and raising cash in order to not get into any trouble like it experienced in the drop of 2014. This cautious approach has enabled the company to pay one of the highest dividends in the energy sector. What’s more important is that it has raised its dividend on a consistent basis since 2012.
To see other oil and gas stocks that pay dividends, click here.
The Bottom Line
Whole Foods Market saw a huge jump in price this week, as Amazon submitted a bid for the company as it aims to take Wal-Mart head on. Otherwise, slumping Cisco Systems created some buzz with its new Encrypted Traffic Analytics system that looks to help reduce cyberattacks. While all the oil and gas companies tumble, Royal Dutch Shell has found a way to stay on the defensive side, especially with a yield of over 7%.
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