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Three income names heading into earnings season pair durable payouts with catalysts the market has yet to price in.
One compounds the payout like clockwork, one is leveraged to a steeper curve, and one carries a propane turnaround story the Street still refuses to believe.

Top Picks (Sponsored)
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*This free resource is being sent by Zacks. We identify investment resources you may choose to use in making your own decisions. Use of this resource is subject to the Zacks Terms of Service.
*Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing involves risk. This material does not constitute investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. Zacks Investment Research is not a licensed dealer, broker, or investment adviser.

Energy Infrastructure
Constellation Is Turning Nuclear Power Into a Bigger AI Growth Business

Constellation Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: CEG) has signed a major long-term power agreement with Google covering 3,590 megawatts of electricity, including new capacity created through upgrades at existing nuclear plants.
The agreement will support more than $4.3 billion of Constellation investment across 11 nuclear units in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Existing Nuclear Plants Are Becoming Growth Assets
Constellation does not need to build an entirely new fleet to benefit from rising electricity demand. Upgrading existing reactors can create additional output while extending the economic value of plants already connected to the grid.
AI may dominate your view of the agreement, but Constellation's real advantage is owning reliable power that large customers increasingly need around the clock.
Power Demand Is Creating a New Growth Cycle
Data centers need enormous amounts of electricity, and bringing new generation online can take years. Existing nuclear facilities therefore carry more strategic value than they did before the current AI infrastructure boom.
If that demand keeps expanding, you have a direct link between Constellation's existing power assets and a much larger pipeline of contracted growth.
CEG currently trades at $ 299 and pays a dividend of $1.71 per share, a yield of 0.57%.


Advertising
From Store Aisles to TV Screens, Walmart Wants More Ad Dollars

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ: WMT) is expanding its advertising business into traditional television through a new arrangement with Warner Bros. Discovery, allowing brands to use Walmart shopper data to target and measure TV campaigns.
The move takes Walmart Connect beyond ads running on Walmart-owned websites, apps, and connected-TV platforms.
The expansion builds on Walmart’s push into streaming advertising through Vizio and Vibe.co. Together, those moves are turning customer data collected through the retail business into something Walmart can sell across a much wider media market.
Walmart’s Shopping Data Has Value Beyond Retail
Walmart knows what millions of customers actually purchase, giving advertisers information that goes beyond whether someone simply watched or clicked an ad.
Every time you shop at Walmart, the transaction adds another signal about which products people ultimately choose. That makes purchase data especially useful to brands trying to connect advertising with actual sales.
Advertising Gives Walmart Another Way to Make Money
Selling advertising creates revenue without requiring Walmart to put another product on a shelf or open another store. Its existing customer relationships become the foundation for an entirely separate business.
A brand may reach you during a television show and then use Walmart’s system to determine whether that campaign eventually influenced a purchase. The more places Walmart can make that connection, the larger its advertising opportunity becomes.
WMT currently trades at $105 and pays a dividend of $0.99 per share, a yield of 0.94%.

Warning Signal Returns (Sponsored)
In 1929, Irving Weiss spotted danger before most of Wall Street saw it coming.
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Healthcare
A $5.8 Billion Deal Pushes McKesson Further Into Home Healthcare

McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) and private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice have agreed to acquire Option Care Health in a $5.8 billion transaction.
McKesson plans to own 49% of the business, which is the largest independent provider of home and alternate-site infusion services in the U.S.
Option Care treats more than 300,000 patients annually, giving McKesson a much larger position in healthcare delivered outside traditional hospitals and clinics.
McKesson Is Getting Closer to the Patient
McKesson has traditionally made much of its money moving medicines through the healthcare system. Option Care adds a business that actually administers complex treatments to patients in their homes and other outpatient settings.
If you still associate McKesson mainly with drug distribution, this deal broadens the picture considerably. The company is moving further into the services surrounding how those medicines eventually reach patients.
The Deal Adds Another Healthcare Services Platform
Option Care will remain separately managed after the transaction, while McKesson gains a large stake and the option to acquire the rest later. That gives the company exposure to the business without immediately absorbing the entire operation.
As more complex treatments leave the hospital, you increasingly encounter healthcare through home and outpatient services.
McKesson is positioning itself to participate in that shift from both sides, supplying medicines and owning part of the network that delivers them.
MCK currently trades at $918 and pays a dividend of $3.76 per share, a yield of 0.41%.


Dividend Stocks Worth Watching
CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS)
CMS Energy runs the regulated electric and gas utility across Michigan. The Q3 earnings print lands Oct 22 before the open, and management has been guiding to steady EPS growth in the 6-8% range through the end of the decade.
The yield sits around 3.5%, but what you're really buying is a track record of consistent annual raises and a rate base growing steadily off clean energy investment.
Watch for the earnings release and the January dividend declaration. If you want a utility that compounds the payout without surprising you, this is the one that keeps delivering.
Citizens Financial Group (NYSE: CFG)
CFG reports Q3 earnings on Oct 16, and net interest margins at regional banks have been expanding as the yield curve steepens.
Yield is near 3.4%, and the payout ratio is comfortably in the low 40s. The private bank build-out and the New York expansion are the two stories few are watching here.
If the Q3 print shows loan growth bouncing and NIM holding, this one has room to run before the market reprices mid-cap banks. Your entry zone is before the print, not after.
UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI)
UGI is a natural gas utility with a propane distribution arm (AmeriGas) that has been the headache for years. Fiscal year-end results land Nov 18.
The yield is around 4%, well above most of its utility peers, which tells you the market is still pricing in skepticism.
But if the propane turnaround delivers, you get both a yield that competes with Treasuries and room for the valuation to catch up. This is the higher-risk, higher-reward name on the list. Size it accordingly.

Dividend Increases
Emera (EMA) raised its quarterly dividend 1% to C$0.74 per share from C$0.7325, a yield of about 4.4%.
State Street (STT) raised its quarterly dividend 9.5% to $0.92 per share from $0.84, a yield of about 2.1%.
InterDigital (IDCC) raised its quarterly dividend 7.1% to $0.75 per share from $0.70, a yield of about 0.9%.
BancFirst (BANF) raised its quarterly dividend 6.1% to $0.52 per share from $0.49, a yield of about 1.9%.
Ingredion (INGR) raised its quarterly dividend 1.2% to $0.83 per share from $0.82, a yield of about 3.4%.
Dividend Decreases
Conagra Brands (CAG) cut its quarterly dividend 50% to $0.175 per share from $0.35 to pay down debt, a yield of about 5.3% at the new rate.
Campbell's (CPB) cut its quarterly dividend 36% to $0.25 per share from $0.39, a yield of about 5.2% at the new rate.

Power Demand Surges (Sponsored)
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Would you rather a company cut its dividend now with a clean balance sheet, or maintain it by taking on rising debt?


Upcoming Dividend Payers
Comcast (CMCSA) goes ex-dividend Wednesday, October 7, paying $0.33 per share on October 28.
Intuit (INTU) goes ex-dividend Thursday, October 8, paying $1.38 per share on October 16.
Science Applications International (SAIC) goes ex-dividend Friday, October 9, paying $0.37 per share on October 23.
NetApp (NTAP) goes ex-dividend Friday, October 9, paying $0.52 per share on October 28.

Everything Else
📊 The Mag 7 earned their spot, but the next wave of winners may already be taking shape after a shaky first quarter, with 7 names worth a look.
🏦 BBVA raised its interim dividend by 16%, approving a record €0.37-per-share payout for 2026.
💰 European bank stocks helped lift the STOXX 600 as investors rotated toward cheaper financial names after last week’s selloff.
🏛️ Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank moved higher on strong quarterly updates, helping financial stocks lead gains in India.
⚡ Dubai Electricity and Water Authority rose nearly 4% as lower oil-price fears and fading Fed hike expectations supported Gulf markets.
🎨 AkzoNobel gained after selling its Southeast Asian paints business, giving the value-oriented industrial name a fresh portfolio-simplification catalyst.

That’s all for today’s edition of the Dividend Brief.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any feedback or dividend stocks you want me to take a look at, just reply to this email!
—Noah Zelvis
DividendBrief.com



