Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

The ongoing earnings season, investor concerns about the durability of AI demand and spending, and geopolitical risks are key factors that have been contributing to stock market volatility in recent trading sessions.

In this scenario, investors seeking steady income can consider adding dividend stocks to their portfolios. Recommendations of top Wall Street analysts can help them pick attractive dividend stocks that are backed by solid cash flows to support consistent payments.

Here are three dividend-paying stocks that are highlighted by Wall Street's top pros, as tracked by TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.

ConocoPhillips Oil and gas exploration and production company ConocoPhillips is this week's first dividend pick. With a dividend of 84 cents per share (annualized dividend of $3.36 per share), COP offers a dividend yield of 3%. The company is scheduled to announce its second-quarter results on Aug. 6.

Ahead of second-quarter results, Wells Fargo analyst Sam Margolin reiterated a buy rating on COP stock with a price target of $183. Despite the pressure on oil prices from an increase in OPEC production quota, the analyst finds ConocoPhillips and Shell stocks appealing as the earnings season approaches. He cited their operational visibility and resilience as factors backing their appeal.

The 5-star analyst expects ConocoPhillips to meet its production guidance of 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day at the mid-point. He expects lower Waha natural gas prices in the Permian Basin to be offset by stronger Brent crude premiums. Margolin expects capital expenditure to remain within COP's prior guided range of $12.2 billion annualized, with no significant impact on spending on the Northfield East project in Qatar despite the Strait of Hormuz disruption.

Overall, Margolin expects COP to generate about $3.5 billion in free cash flow (before working capital) and earnings per share of $2.94. He expects continued strength in COP's free cash flow and regular dividend growth through the completion of the Willow project in 2028/2029. Prior to the Willow project coming online, the analyst expects free cash flow to grow by about $2 billion in 2027 and 2028, assuming Brent crude averages around $60 per barrel.

"COP's track record of capital efficiency and strong Permian well productivity underpins its ability to pursue long-cycle developments," said Margolin.

Margolin ranks No. 457 among more than 12,300 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 70% of the time, delivering an average return of 13.3%. See ConocoPhillips Financials on TipRanks. 

Energy TransferEnergy Transfer is a limited partnership that operates 140,000 miles of pipeline and associated energy infrastructure. With a quarterly cash distribution of 33.75 cents per common unit ($1.35 per unit on an annualized basis), ET offers a yield of 6.8%.

Heading into Energy Transfer's Q2 earnings on Aug. 4, Jefferies analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith reaffirmed a buy rating on ET stock with a price target of $23. The analyst noted that his adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization estimate of $4.46 billion is 1% below the Street's consensus of $4.49 billion.

The 5-star analyst noted that Energy Transfer has slightly outperformed Enterprise Products Partners recently. However, it still trades at a relative discount of 19% compared to EPD, which is below its historical discount range of 17%-20%. Smith believes that ET stock could be re-rated higher if the company provides a clearer long-term strategy for natural gas growth.

Furthermore, Smith expects the current energy market to support a stronger outlook for natural gas liquids and crude oil. "The current energy macro backdrop positions ET to benefit in all three commodities," said the analyst.

He expects Energy Transfer's adjusted EBITDA to grow at a 4.8% compound annual growth rate in 2027-2030, which is 1%-3% above Wall Street's expectations. In fact, Smith sees the possibility of additional upside if ET announces more natural gas projects. He added that investors will await details on final investment decisions on new natural gas projects and any clues about additional projects in the pipeline. The analyst noted that ET has announced new gas projects consistently in recent quarters.

Smith ranks No. 550 among more than 12,300 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 64% of the time, delivering an average return of 10.4%. See Energy Transfer Statistics on TipRanks.

ChevronFinally, let's look at energy giant Chevron, which is scheduled to announce its second-quarter results on July 31. Last month, the company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.78 per share. At an annualized dividend of $7.12, CVX offers a dividend yield of 3.92%.

Ahead of Q2 earnings, Jefferies analyst Lloyd Byrne reiterated a buy rating on Chevron stock and lowered his price target to $216 from $236. Byrne expects the company to report adjusted EPS of about $5.86 per share, nearly 9% above the Street's expectations.

The 5-star analyst highlighted that the challenges seen in Chevron's upstream business in the first quarter due to the disruption at the Tengizchevroil joint venture in Kazakhstan, Storm Fern downtime, and the Middle East conflict have largely been resolved. Consequently, Byrne expects production to recover in the second quarter to about 4,033 mboepd. He expects the upstream business to generate adjusted earnings of about $8.1 billion in Q2 2026.

Meanwhile, Byrne expects Chevron to generate downstream adjusted earnings of about $4.4 billion in Q2, with strength in both domestic and international markets. The downstream business benefited from higher crack spreads and strong refining performance.

Additionally, the analyst expects Chevron to generate $18.2 billion in cash flow from operations (before working capital changes), driven by stronger earnings and about $2.2 billion in dividends from affiliated companies. Unlike the first quarter, Chevron is not expected to make a TCO loan repayment in Q2, providing an additional boost to cash flow.

Byrne ranks No. 409 among more than 12,300 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 56% of the time, delivering an average return of 17.5%. See Chevron Ownership Structure on TipRanks.

Energy Transfer (ET 1.15%) recently announced an additional expansion of its Nederland NGL Export Terminal. The project will enable the master limited partnership (MLP) to export more natural gas liquids (NGLs) out of that crucial Gulf Coast terminal by the end of the decade. It's the latest expansion of this facility and one of many projects the company has under construction.

Here's a look at the new project, which will give the MLP even more fuel to grow its over 7%-yielding distribution.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The NGL export juggernaut Energy Transfer plans to increase the ethane export capacity of its Nederland NGL Export Terminal by 240,000 barrels per day (BPD). It also plans to add another 55,000 BPD of LPG export capacity. The company is expanding this facility due to robust customer demand. It has secured long-term contracts for 100% of the facility's ethane export capacity into the 2040s.

The company expects to complete the project in phases starting in 2028. It's expanding its Mont Belvieu-to-Nederland NGL export pipeline and building two additional NGL ship docks (which it expects to complete by the middle of 2029). The company is already expanding its refrigerated propane and butane storage tanks (anticipated completion in the first half of 2027). Once complete, the Energy Transfer will have the largest refrigerated storage capacity on the U.S. Gulf Coast and the capacity to export more than 1.25 million BPD from this facility. Add in the company's Marcus Hook NGL Export Facility along the East Coast (which it's expanding to 420,000 BPD by mid-2027), and Energy Transfer will have about 1.7 million BPD of NGL export capacity by the end of the decade.

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A massive and growing backlog Energy Transfer's latest Nederland expansion project adds to its already extensive expansion project backlog. The pipeline company plans to spend between $5.5 billion and $5.9 billion on expansion projects this year.

The bulk of its projects are natural gas pipelines. Energy Transfer is investing up to $9.5 billion in major gas pipeline projects, led by the $5.6 billion Desert Southwest Pipeline (anticipated completion by the fourth quarter of 2029). It's also building several pipeline laterals to supply gas to AI data centers and gas-fired power plants. Additionally, the company is expanding several crude oil and NGL pipelines, building additional NGL infrastructure, and constructing more gas processing plants.

These projects give Energy Transfer significant growth visibility. It currently has projects on track to enter commercial service through early 2030. These projects support the company's plans to increase its high-yielding distribution by 3% to 5% per year.

Enhancing its already robust growth profile Energy Transfer is moving forward with another expansion of its key Nederland terminal. This expansion will help further support distribution growth through the end of the decade. The MLP's combination of yield and growth makes it a highly attractive investment opportunity for those comfortable with receiving a Schedule K-1 Federal tax form from the MLP each year.

Matt DiLallo has positions in Energy Transfer. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.