The S&P 500 is up over 8% this year (as of Monday’s close), which isn’t bad given how hot it’s been in recent years.
But there is clearly a bit more apprehension in the market these days, with investors appearing to be more concerned about high valuations and a possible bubble related to artificial intelligence (AI)
Many investors have also been pivoting into safer stocks that pay dividends. Three dividend stocks that have vastly outperformed the market this year are ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN). Here’s how well they’ve been doing, and why they can still be great buys right now.
ExxonMobil Shares of oil and gas giant ExxonMobil are up around 29% this year and close to 40% over the past 12 months. As commodity prices have been rising, investors have been loading up on the industry leader, expecting it to benefit significantly from higher oil prices, just as it has in the past. That excitement is evident in its valuation: the stock trades at only 14 times future earnings (based on analyst expectations).