3 DIVIDEND STOCKS Riding the Iran War's $200,000-a-Day Rate Spike

There's a corner of the market that's up big this year. Besides the massive share price gains, it also pays truly astounding dividends and signs point to more of the same in the months ahead. So today, I'm going to share three top-rated stocks from this same industry with you. Just to clarify what I mean by astounding dividend, one stock we are about to discuss is currently paying a 14.4% dividend yield. Of course, there are no guarantees with stocks and investing carries inherent risk. So always do your own due diligence before buying or selling any stocks. But to ensure that I'm sharing stock ideas that are actually worth taking the time to check out, I've only selected those with our highest scores from our proprietary quant ratings model. That means that according to our review of 115 different fundamental factors across over 4,600 stocks, these three picks are amongst the most likely to outperform the market. By the way, I'm Steve Reiter Meister, but all my friends call me Reiter. I've been investing for over 40 years and currently a partner at wallstreetzen.com where our quant rating system analyzes a wide array of data points to separate the best opportunities from all the noise and nonsense. If you like timely market insights like this, then tap that like button. It tells YouTube to send you more videos like this in the future. Now, back to the topic at hand. First, let me explain that magical market industry I was referencing earlier. It's not about AI, nor is it gold. Actually, we're talking about the positive trends in cargo ships. Now, consider this. Since early March, the US and Iran have been locked in an active conflict that keeps spilling into the Strait of Hormuz. That's the narrow waterway that roughly 20% of the world's oil traffic has to pass through. There's technically an interim peace agreement in place, but it keeps getting tested and drawn out. Most investors watching this conflict see this bad news given the increase in oil prices, but there's a small group of investors treating it completely differently. To them, every escalation in the war is actually a big opportunity and it's all because of one detail most coverage skips entirely. Here's the detail that turns this from a scary headline into an opportunity. Somebody still has to physically move that oil, war or no war. The largest class of crude tankers, also known as VLCC, they haul around 2 million barrels in a single trip. When a ship has to avoid the Strait of Hormuz or take the long way around, the same ship is at sea for more days on the same voyage and getting paid the entire time it's out there. The company that owns that ship makes more money on every shipment. And a lot of that extra money doesn't sit on the balance sheet, it gets sent straight to shareholders via larger dividends. Before I move on to what that means for you as an investor, just a quick aside. If you like timely market updates like this, then I strongly suggest you sign up for my next live training session this coming Monday. The focus is on timely market insights plus my top picks. Now, it's totally free, but you do need to sign up. Do that now to join me this coming Monday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Just go to wallstreetzen.com/live. Let's get back to the bullish trends in the cargo uh ship stocks. Now, longer routes mean more days at sea, more days at sea mean more tanker owners can charge more per voyage. The day rate. Before this year, VLCC uh day rates typically ran in the tens of thousands of dollars a day. As of late last week, when I was researching this topic, the market average had climbed past $200,000 a day. When rates on the riskiest Gulf routes have been reported as high as $470,000 per day. That's the difference between a company barely covering its costs and one that's starting to print serious cash hand over fist. And here's why this story has legs. This isn't just about the Iran conflict. The truth is these companies simply haven't been building enough new ships to keep up with the demand, conflict or no conflict. So, even if the war cools off tomorrow, then it does not mean the ship shortage underneath that disappears. This points to higher rates and higher profitability for quite a while. Okay, now we all see the favorable industry trend. Next up we have to figure out the best stocks in the group to invest in. That is when I turned to the Zen Ratings Quant model. Now, it evaluates stocks across 115 different factors, everything from growth to value to momentum and more, then distills it down into an intuitive letter grade, A through F. Indeed, our A-rated stocks have nearly tripled the S&P 500 over the years. I took a deep dive on all the tanker stocks and three names stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Now, we'll start that conversation with Frontline with a symbol of FRO. This is an oil tanker shipping company hauling crude out of the Arabian Gulf, West Africa, the North Sea, and the Caribbean. When day rates spike the way we just walked through, Frontline is one of the operators cashing those checks, and it sends a big chunk of that cash straight to shareholders. Right now, the forward dividend yield here is sitting at 15.87%. As if that wasn't exciting enough, let's consider the value equation for Frontline. It trades for a PEG ratio of only 0.39. Remember, anything under one generally screams value. So, Frontline shares are very, very attractively priced. Wall Street coverage here is thin with just two analysts on board. Gladly, both are highly ranked in our database of over 5,300 analysts based upon their actual stock picking performance. For instance, Gregory Lewis at BTIG sits in the top 3% of all analysts for his stock picking prowess. Now, he maintains a strong buy recommendation with a price target implying another 40% more upside for shares in the year ahead. The Zen Ratings agrees with this bullish outlook given that Frontline earns an elite A grade. All in all, it ranks in the top 3% of all stocks tracked thanks to its truly impressive fundamental profile. Its well-rounded strength shows up in the seven underlying component grades, which let us see a stock's unique strengths and weaknesses. Now, growth comes in at the top 14% of all stocks tracked. Momentum climbs to the top 7%, value a notch better in the top 6%. This goes well beyond the low PEG ratio we discussed as it's based upon 21 different value factors. And the standout rate, finances strength, all the way up in the top 5% of all stocks in an industry that usually loads up on debt to buy ships. Being in a generally strong financial position is a big plus. Now, here's the part that needs to be discussed a bit further. That nearly 16% dividend is not a sure thing. That's because shipping profits can be a bit of a wild ride, right? This includes softer periods where Frontline has been pressed to cut their dividends in the past. The good news is they have a history of paying out a very large part of the profits to shareholders. Hopefully, that is not a deal breaker because the rest of the story is quite appealing. That being the current positive cycle for day rates and what that means for profit growth and dividend payouts. The Zen rating is picking up on the excitement of the story as well, as is the top-rated analyst who sees 50% upside for shares in the year ahead. Tack on that fat dividend payment and you will need a cargo ship to carry your stock gains. Before I move on to the next stock, if you are getting value out of this video, then hit that subscribe button and notification bell. Now, I publish videos featuring timely stock picks several times per week and these actions are the best way to ensure you don't miss any of my future releases. Our second stock today is International Seaways with the symbol of INSW. Now, they own and operate a fleet of vessels carrying crude oil petroleum products, putting them right in the center of everything we've been talking about today. And as of this week, our rating system flags them as the number one ranked stock out of 46 in their entire industry. The numbers back up the excitement because earnings are up nearly 70% year-over-year. This is in large part thanks to its ample 55.4% profit margin. That is ridiculously high for a company in this industry. Now, the earnings momentum explains the ample share price momentum over the past year. Yet, even with the big run-up in shares, INSW still trades at just 6.5 forward earnings. A valuation that suggest the market hasn't fully priced in all that earnings power. As for the dividend, the trailing year to year is running north of 9%. Now, not as juicy as the last stock, but it's still more than double the industry average and about five times the average stock out there. I mentioned the trailing dividend 9% to base things on a more conservative level because there is an even flashier forward yield north of 20% floating around out there, but that's annualizing one outside special dividend that is not likely here to stay. As the week I'm recording, Wall Street is firmly on board. All three covering analysts recommend International Seaways as a strong buy. Note that analyst coverage is updated every single day on wallstreetszen.com, so be sure to bookmark this site for the latest and greatest analyst insights on this stock or any stock you want to check out. Moving on to the Zen Ratings Quant Model, International Seaways earns an overall A rating amounting to a strong buy recommendation, but this is truly more like an A+ as it sits in the top 1% of all stocks tracked. A hallmark of a stock with truly home run fundamentals. And as I previously mentioned, it's the number one rated stock in its entire industry. The uh component grades reveals even more to like about these shares. That party starts with a top 19% showing for growth. Value climbs the top 15% of all stocks suggesting that even after the run up in shares, the stock still isn't fully priced relative to its impressive prospects. The artificial intelligence grade lands in the top 13%. Now, a quick note on that one, it's not about uh how much uh AI the company is involved in. Rather, it's our system's usage of AI to flag stocks that look poised for timely outperformance. Now, moving on to sentiment, they score in the top 5% of all stocks. This tells you the smart money is already leaning into this name. Amazingly, it keeps getting better with momentum in the top 2% and financial strength in the elite top 1% of all stocks. Now, as shared with Frontline, this is a capital intensive business which often leads to excessive borrowing and poor financials. Clearly, International Seaways is on a much healthier financial footing. The honest risk of the same as everyone in this industry, that being the cyclical nature of the business with ebbs and flows in profits and dividend payments. But, if you believe in this higher cargo rate trend, then playing the number one ranked stock in the space is never a bad idea. As for a third and final stock, it recently got featured as my trade of the week on our weekly live training sessions, and it was the 14.4% dividend yield example I shared at the top of the video today. That brings us around to DHT Holdings with a symbol of DHT. Just a quick aside, if you don't want to miss my next trade of the week, then the very next thing you should do is to sign up for my next event. That's because I go live every Monday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Not only do I highlight my trade of the week, but I also share my updated market outlook and trading plan to outperform. It is all backed by our Zen Ratings Quant Model and my greater than 40 years of investing experience. Now, it's a free event, but you do need to register. Just go to wallstreetzen.com/live or click the link in the description below or scan the QR code on your screen. Just pause the video for a moment. I'll be patient and wait for you, and then I look forward to seeing you there on Monday. Back to our final stock in DHT, which operates crude oil tankers, and here's the thesis in a nutshell. There's been an undersupply of tankers going back years. The industry has been under-ordering new ships relative to how much oil actually needs to move across the globe. That imbalance leads to higher rates, which leads to higher profits, which yes, leads to higher dividend payments. You already know about the current juicy dividend yield of 14.41%. Perhaps the best part of that is DHT has a policy to pay out 100% of net income every single quarter, no holding cash back. This is great news for any dividend paying stock. Even better for one that is riding the wave of higher cargo rates and likely higher profitability. Now, speaking of profits, that growth story is heating up with an 87% year-over-year increase. Even wilder is the 149% earnings acceleration quarter-over-quarter. The Zen Ratings model is picking up on the excitement as it scores in the top 0.6% of all stocks across that full 115 factor review. Just to be clear, the hurdle to become an A-rated stock is to be in the top 5%, and this one is truly a lead territory in the top 0.6% of all stocks. That greatly increases the odds of future share price outperformance. There's a lot to like within the component grades. Now, value comes in the top 16% of all stocks. Growth is right behind that in the top 15%. This is the most important grade to increase the odds of future earnings beats. Here again, we have another surprisingly strong financials profile in the top 6% of all stocks. This also says they are top-notch operator. The best part is the top 2% showing for sentiment, which means the smart money is already circling around these shares. When looking at dividend stocks, the most beneficial component grades are financials and growth. That's because they increase the odds of future earnings strength and ability to pay out max dividends in the quarters and years ahead. And that was a big part of my recent selection of DHT as my trade of the week. Now, do you see the unique opportunity in these shipping companies? And which of the three stocks is your favorite and why? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below for the benefit of our community. And if you want to explore other special opportunities, then I strongly suggest you check out the four deeply undervalued stocks that I shared in the recent video appearing on your screen now.