Wall Street's Most Accurate Analysts Weigh In On 3 Defensive Stocks With Over 7% Dividend Yields

During times of turbulence and uncertainty in the markets, many investors turn to dividend-yielding stocks. These are often companies that have high free cash flows and reward shareholders with a high dividend payout.

Benzinga readers can review the latest analyst takes on their favorite stocks by visiting Analyst Stock Ratings page. Traders can sort through Benzinga's extensive database of analyst ratings, including by analyst accuracy.

Below are the ratings of the most accurate analysts for three high-yielding stocks in the consumer staples sector.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. WBA

• Dividend Yield: 11.09%
• UBS analyst Kevin Caliendo maintained a Neutral rating and cut the price target from $17 to $12 on July 3. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 71%.
• RBC Capital analyst Ben Hendrix maintained a Sector Perform rating and decreased the price target from $22 to $13 on July 2. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 73%.
• Recent News: On Friday, Walgreens Boots Alliance agreed to pay $106.8 million to settle allegations that it submitted false claims to government healthcare programs, violating the False Claims Act and state regulations.
• Benzinga Pro's real-time newsfeed alerted to latest WBA news.

B&G Foods, Inc. BGS

Dividend Yield: 8.41%

• Barclays analyst Brandt Montour maintained an Equal-Weight rating and cut the price target from $10 to $8 on July 19. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 64%
• Piper Sandler analyst Michael Lavery maintained a Neutral rating and cut the price target from $9 to $8 on July 11. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 70%.
• Recent News: On Sept. 9, B&G Foods issued notice of full redemption of remaining 5.25% senior notes due 2025.
• Benzinga Pro’s charting tool helped identify the trend in BGS stock.

Altria Group, Inc.  MO

• Dividend Yield: 7.89%
• Barclays analyst Gaurav Jain maintained an Underweight rating and raised the price target from $43 to $45 on Sept. 9. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 66%.
• Stifel analyst Matthew Smith maintained a Buy rating and raised the price target from $50 to $54 on Aug. 1. This analyst has an accuracy rate of 61%.
• Recent News: On Aug. 22, Altria increased its quarterly dividend by 4.1% to $1.02 per share.
• Benzinga Pro’s signals feature notified of a potential breakout in MO shares.

Read More:

• ‘If You Want Steel, You Do Nucor,’ Says Cramer When Asked About Gerdau