The Best AI Dividend Stocks to Buy Right Now (3 Names)

While the market reaches new all-time highs, these three solid companies still have plenty of room to run. Joining us now is market beat analyst Chris Marotch with a look at three infrastructure stocks that are on the more boring side. They are all down right now. So, it's a buy the dip opportunity and these three more boring names, but they do have some close ties to that AI buildout. So Chris, let's start out with why we're seeing kind of this pullback in these more uh utility infrastructure names. >> Yeah. So you were seeing the pullback because um in each case, especially the last two stocks we're be talking about, it looked like the major catalyst that was pushing them higher had run its course. But ironically, it's it's the AI trade and the demand for data centers that is reviving these stocks and giving them new life. And so these are stocks that are part of AI infrastructure, but we're not talking about uh hyperscalers or neocloud players or photonix names. We're talking about names that are just the essential players in getting these data centers built. >> Yeah, there's a lot of physical labor going into building all these data centers. And it's not just tech companies. These are, you know, your your brickandmortar companies that have to deal with this buildout along with a lot of the infrastructure around these data center sites. So that's why I think it's interesting that the three names you have for us today are actually on a pullback right now this summer when we're starting to see the rest of the market bouncing back. For the most part, these three names have not bounced back yet since kind of falling in July. And that's what makes them a really good opportunity. There's something else these three names have in common, too. Let's talk about that, Chris. >> Yeah, they all have very attractive dividends. Now, I know that for some investors, dividend is a bad word, but when you're talking about companies that have a chance for to outperform the market, and then you combine that with a dividend that in the case of the stocks we'll be looking at today, we're talking about stocks that are yielding above four, four and a half, 5%. That means that you've got a dividend yield alone that's outpacing inflation. And then you can get stock price growth on top of that. That's a win for an investors, >> right? Yeah. 4 to 5% may not seem like a lot, but that really does add up over time, and it's something I've noticed with one of my favorite apps this summer. A big thank you to Upside for sponsoring today's video. This is a great app to help you put aside a little more cash for investing. I've been using this app for a little over a month now, and I can't believe how many locations have cashback offers right on Upside. There are more than 100,000 participating locations all over the country. 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Ticker symbol is NG. Now, this is one that may that many investors may not be familiar with. It's a company that's based in London, but they have operations both in the UK and in the United States. And that's where this story kind of begins because it's a two very different narratives playing out in the two continents. So when you talk about what the company's doing in the United Kingdom that's driving growth is the company is tapping offshore wind out of the North Sea and they're feeding it into a grid system that was designed for a completely different energy era. So this is a massive project. It's a multi-year project to modernize this grid kind of it's a combination of the old and the new technology. And that's something that is not something you normally see from a somewhat other boring utility company. So that's one aspect of it. >> Now when you get to the United States side of the equation, um the company operates primarily in the New England area, the New York area, and they're seeing a real surge in electricity demand because of data centers. So the company kind of has two tailwinds happening that doesn't normally happen for a like I said a quote unquote boring utility company >> another boring company that AI has made exciting again and we are seeing that time and time again in the market right now where AI has really reinvigorated kind of a historic boring company that's been around forever and a lot of those names are tied to the AI buildout story. We have a special report out right now on AI infrastructure stocks every investor should be looking at right now. Now, some of these are newer tech names, but some of them are older companies just like this that are seeing a tremendous growth. Again, thanks to all of the new work from the AI data center buildout. You can scan the QR code or click the link in the description to get that report for free right now on marketbeat.com. I emphasize free because normally these reports are $30 on MarketBeat, but for our YouTube viewers, you get free access. So scan that QR code or click the link in the description and go check out that special report today. Now Chris, another thing that's not so boring about this company is the price action. Looking at the chart, there's been quite a few ups and downs in the last year. Why is that? >> One of the reasons, Bridget, is with a with a company like National Grid, as I've said, it's a Londonbased company, a lot of retail investors don't kind of stay away from it, and so do a lot of institutional investors. just think only about 4.5% of the of the float is owned by institutional investors. So, it's probably a stock that's that's not being paid attention to a lot. And so, any bit of price movement can kind of go a long way. And plus, as I look at it, it's it's only got about 10 analysts covering it. So, so it doesn't really have a lot of analyst coverage right now. Uh so, I'm going to take that price target of $85.50 50 cents with a slight grain of salt. And I would look at it and say it has a little bit it it's only supposed to have maybe a little bit more upside, but when I look at where the stock's been in the last year and I see that it was as high as maybe 94 $95, I think that's that's a realistic option that investors could expect. >> Yeah. So definitely some growth. Uh there's also that dividend factor. Let's take a look at the dividend here. Again, this is a utility company that's been around for a very long time, and I think their history with their dividend is also something that's interesting to look at. >> The company has a dividend yield of 5.2% as we're taping this, and they an annual payout of $4.31 a share. So, this is a company that that that's a that's a very very solid dividend for a period of time like this where you're looking at um investors are starting to look at ways to mitigate that volatility. And one of the ways to do it is when you have a dividend yield that's over 5% that starts to look very attractive to investors. Yeah, it's an important compounding part of investing too that I think investors often ignore in the retail community that they're just looking at where can I find the fastest growth. This might not be the best name for fastest growth, but there's certainly growth and uh there's also this dividend factor to keep in mind. And when it comes to growth, let's talk about that. Let's talk about outlook for growth for this company and also how it is tied to what is happening with all of the investment going into AI infrastructure. >> Yeah. So I think when when you're talking about growth in terms of national grid investors have to keep in mind it is a utility company. We're not talking about a rocket ship here. But what we're talking about is that what you were saying, Bridget, it's that it's that compounding effect of this singledigit yield on the dividend. And if you can get stock price growth to go along with that, and keep in mind, we're talking about something that's a multi-year trend, both in that on that UK side of the business where they're trying to modernize their current grid using that combination of wind and electric and natural gas. And then on the on the North American side of it where they're seeing increased energy needs because of data centers. So this you can look at the stock and say, well, it's already at its peak and I've missed it. Or you can look at it and say this is a growth story that's still in somewhat early stages of a multi-year trend. >> Yeah. Where do you see it, Chris? I >> I see it as the latter. I I think this is a story that is in the early in the early stages. We've kind of stopped talking about the fact of the how much our national electric grid needs to be um updated and I think it that's cuz data centers took a lot of the oxygen out of the room. But that's still a story and it's still real. And so, you know, I think this is just going to be something that I think this is a long-term story for this company. >> Yeah. I know we've talked about with the AI infrastructure stories that we've done and we've talked about lots of different stocks and some of those more traditional electric companies that are helping to actually build out the power grid are the ones that are really benefiting right now if they're making certain components that are used to build out the power grid. And it does make sense that a utility company that is a part of that power grid is also going to continue to see some growth because that demand is not going anywhere. Right. >> That's right. That's right. This is ironic uh situation where we're building all these data centers or at least we're trying to build all these data centers which are going to be power hogs at the same time when we desperately need to upgrade our electrical grid, our existing electrical grid. So you've kind of got two things converging at one time. I think it's going to be a fascinating story and I think definitely companies like National Grid are prepared to benefit from that. >> Well, let's move on to that second name that you are looking at. Is this also a power grid utility company or is it slightly different? >> It's slightly different. So, we're talking the next two companies we're talking about are real estate investment trusts, REITs. The first one we're talking about is American Tower, AMT. Now, investors who might be familiar with that name would be saying, "Wait a second, isn't that a 5G play?" And isn't kind of the whole 5G story over? And my answer to that is, well, it is a little bit but it's getting new life because of data centers. Again, American Tower is a REIT. It owns, operates, develops wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure. So management in their most recent earnings report for the second quarter of 2026, management raised their fullear outlook for the second time this year and data centers were a large part of that. >> Yeah, just looking at their latest earnings report, it looks like they had a really solid earnings report there. Are we starting to see more of that data center income showing up in their earnings? >> You are. And again, I think that's exactly why um investors are getting excited about. I mean, you look at it. I'm looking right now and say they had a they they beat I mean it was a strong beat on adjusted EPS from what analysts were projecting and it was still, you know, it was still a solid beat year-over-year. Um revenue was the same. It was, you know, it it beat it was a small beat um in terms of what was forecast, but it was also again a beat year-over-year. So, um, and that's where the opportunity comes in, Bridget, because I think right now, uh, you saw something in the earnings report that's not being reflected in the stock price yet. And I think that's where investors can really see an opportunity. This is a stock that's essentially flat year to date. I'm seeing 0.39% as we're doing this, and it's been down about 13.8% over the last year. Um, again, I think a lot of that's because a lot of people thought, well, the 5G story is over and so the story for AMT is over. But they're getting that second wind. It's showing up in their revenue and earnings, but it's not showing up yet the stock price. And I think that's where the opportunity is. >> Yeah, this is an absolute buy the dip opportunity. If they're proving that they're kind of reinventing where that income is coming from, I'm curious to see looking back at the historical look at this chart. If you go back five years or even further than five years, you can see the stock really peaked in that 2021 time frame when everyone was very excited about 5G and that was the story that led the stock so high. Will we get back to that, you know, nearly $300 price that we saw back in the 202122 time period or do you think that would be a really high estimate for a stock like this to to see that growth come back in the next 12 to 18 months? Yeah, I'm not sure if we're going to see up to as high as $300 in the next 12 months, but if you look at what analysts are saying, uh they are suggesting that the stock, which is about $174 as we're taping this today, could easily get to $200 and maybe even the consensus estimate puts it at $215. That would be a nice 23% upside in the stock price for investors. And then we can look at that dividend, too. Yeah, let's take a look at the dividend because I think that's we've talked about REITs on the channel a few different times. Many investors are likely familiar with them, but for those who aren't, let's talk about that benefit of REIT sometimes when it comes to the dividend, >> right? REITs are required by law to pay out um a high percentage of their earnings, usually over 90% to their shareholders as a dividend. Therefore, what you frequently see with these REITs is they have dividend yields and even and payouts that are usually above the industry average. In this case, American Tower pays a dividend yield of over 4%. It's 4.11% as we're taping this. And it has an annual payout of $7.16 a share, which is very nice. But I can see it's increased its dividend in the last couple of years. Over the last 5 years, it's been increasing at an annual rate of around 8.4%, 4% which is great. That's what you want to see because you want to see not only a company that's increasing its dividend but increasing it by a significant amount. So when I look at this I see a company that it's analysts are probably in the process of rerating this company based on this data center tailwind. That rerating has not been priced into the stock as you as we can see in the chart. and you've got a a company that's paying you a nice dividend while you wait because again that 4% is ahead of any other inflation projection we've had in the last month or so. So this is a again if you're looking for ways to get that exposure to AI but you don't want the volatility and you're looking for you know something that's going to kind of pay you while you wait this is a this is a good option. >> Yeah, this is an interesting option to look at. It's not the kind of stock you're going to find on that AI infrastructure report that I was talking about earlier where you're talking about more of the tech names that are very much directly tied to actually building out the data centers. This is a little less direct of a tie and yet also still very much connected to the growth that's happening in the AI story as so many different stocks in the market are. If you do want to check out those super closely related AI infrastructure stocks, don't miss that special report. We've got that QR code here and the link in the description to check out those AI infrastructure stocks that have the best chance for success through the rest of the year. All right, Chris, let's get on to the last name that you are looking at in the broader infrastructure market. That is a buy the dip opportunity right now. >> Yeah, so we're talking about Crown Castle. Uh ticker symbol is CCI. Once again, this is another REIT that we're talking about. They own and operate shared wireless infrastructure. So its primary business consists of they provide towerbased site leases, small cell networks, fiber solutions. They're not providing like the 5G equipment in the same way that American Tower is, but they are still part of that that vertical if you want to call it that. And you're seeing here a very similar story to what's to what's playing out with American Tower. In fact, you might even be seeing a bigger a more asymmetric opportunity in Crown Castle. >> Well, you're certainly seeing a bigger dip in this stock for sure. This one's down 25% in the last year. Let's talk about what's behind some of the price action and whether we're seeing the some of that negative action also show up in earnings. Are there positive indicators in their earnings? Or is some of the dips we're seeing have to do with some actual fundamentals in the company? Well, it's not having to do with the revenue side because on the revenue side, they're they're they've been beating they've been eating beating analyst expectations. Maybe not by a lot, but they've been beating them. And I think the story here is more of an earnings story. Um it's been kind of hit miss for them over the last oh several quarters, including in the most recent quarter in July, they they had an earnings miss um of about 17 cents. And so that may be part of the reason what's weighing down on the stock. It's this stock does have about 90% institutional ownership. So it the one thing I've noticed and again this is one of those things that investors have to kind of look at here. The stock is heavily owned by institutions and institutions have been buying. In fact in the in the second quarter of this year buying outpaced selling by a tremendous amount. So that that tells you that maybe institutions were expecting um a better earning story than they got and when they didn't get that they've been selling the stock off. But I think it still sets up a really interesting opportunity for the company. >> Yeah, let's talk a little bit more about that opportunity and how it's tied to all the AI infrastructure spending happening right now. Uh is it very similar to the last stock or is there a little bit of a different story here of why this company could also see some growth coming uh tied to that AI story? it it's it's almost the exact same story just in a the product is a little bit different but the outlook is still the same. They're getting a date they are getting a data center tailwind and that's going to be something that you're starting to see in their revenue. The company is expecting it to show up in their earnings and that's that's where investors can look at this. If you look at where uh the the consensus price target is, I acknowledge that price targets have come down a little bit since that last earnings report because like we said, they did miss on earnings. But you've got a consensus price target around $95, which would be a 27% gain. And you've got a lot of analyst sentiment that even though the price targets are coming down a little bit, they're still supporting that $95 price target. So, I I think there's there's good upside there in terms of stock price growth. And then of the three stocks we're talking about, this has the the highest dividend yield at 5.69%. So, you know, you're again, it's it's a stock that is they're paying you to, you know, they're paying you to wait if you're owning the stock. >> Let's talk about how significant that dividend is kind of as an investor when you have that high of a dividend. And I know they can get higher with some different rates out there, but when you 5% is a really high uh dividend compared to the rest of the market. How does that work well for investors even though you might have a stock right now that's down the way it is? >> Well, again, it's it's just the fact that it's it's something that you get regardless of how the stock performs. you're going to as long as you believe that the company is going to continue to maintain the payout for that dividend, you get the payout regardless of what where the stock price goes. And that's where investors can really win is because even when the stock may be not performing that well, you're still getting the benefit if you're if you're reinvesting those dividends, you're reinvesting those dividends, which is helping you to to maybe accumulate a little bit more of the stock when it's down. And then that gives you a bigger tailwind when the stock rises. In this case, you're looking at a stock where analysts are projecting about 27% growth in the stock to go along with that 5% dividend yield. That's a very attractive combination for investors. One area where investors might have a little bit of caution is the dividend payout ratio is above 200%. That means that the, you know, it is a risk factor because it means the dividend isn't fully covered by current earnings the way maybe a company like National Grids is. But again, this is a re there's still they're projected to get about 9% earnings growth this year in the next 12 months. And like American Tower, the company's been raising those estimates. So I think you're going to still see that the dividend is well supported. All right, a very good look at some different types of stocks that we don't normally always talk about on the channel. So, thanks for bringing us a few different names to consider today. I'd love to hear from viewers. Are these the kind of stocks you like to hear about? Would you rather hear more like extreme growth stories, or is it nice to add some of these dividend solid companies into the mix as well? And if this is the kind of stock you like to see, make sure to watch this video with Mark Likenfeld from the Oxford Club. These are the kind of stocks that are right up his alley. and his latest video covered three other names that are really solid companies with a strong dividend too.