non-GAAP<\/a> (adjusted) net income fell during the period by nearly 11%, it still landed well in the black, at $3.3 billion.<\/p>\nFor pharmaceutical companies, a large and robust portfolio typically means strong free cash flow (FCF), and Bristol Myers Squibb generates considerable amounts of it. Annual FCF tends to land in the low-11-figure range; in the third quarter, this was over $5.9 billion, far more than enough to fund the nearly $1.3 billion paid out in dividends.<\/p>\n
To me, Bristol Myers Squibb is an excellent choice for a reliable pharmaceutical company that pays a compelling dividend. Yield approaches 5% these days, putting it well above that of most healthcare companies and of many dividend-paying companies, period.<\/p>\n
The company’s next distribution will be paid on Feb. 2, 2026, to investors of record as of Jan. 2. At the most recent closing share price, it would yield 4.8%.<\/p>\n
![\"Bristol](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766516552_441_\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Today’s Change<\/p>\n
(-1.01%) $-0.56<\/p>\n
Current Price<\/p>\n
$54.10<\/p>\n
Key Data Points<\/p>\n
Market Cap<\/p>\n
$111B<\/p>\n
Day’s Range<\/p>\n
$54.01 – $54.78<\/p>\n
52wk Range<\/p>\n
$42.52 – $63.33<\/p>\n
Volume<\/p>\n
5.9M<\/p>\n
Avg Vol<\/p>\n
17M<\/p>\n
Gross Margin<\/p>\n
64.33%<\/p>\n
Dividend Yield<\/p>\n
4.54%<\/p>\n
2. Zoetis<\/p>\n
Zoetis is a different animal (pun intended) than Bristol Myers Squibb. Yes, it’s also a pharmaceutical company, but one that’s entirely focused on animal health. It’s the largest such pure-play animal health drugmaker worldwide, with an estimated market share of around 20%.<\/p>\n
The company is also a steady and reliable dividend payer, having distributed a dividend in every quarter since being spun out of busy Pfizer in 2013. Earlier this month, it pulled the lever on its latest dividend raise, hiking the quarterly distribution by 6% to $0.53 per share.<\/p>\n
One great advantage of being a drug developer focused on animals rather than humans is that the business is smaller and more insular. Only a few specialty medicine makers exist at the top of this food chain, and happily, Zoetis is the leader of the pack.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766516552_215_\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Image source: Getty Images.<\/p>\n
This makes for a very healthy and growing business, especially since pet ownership in the U.S. has increased significantly — 66% of American households owned a pet, per a 2023-2024 survey from the American Pet Products Association, up notably from 56% in 1988. Roughly two-thirds of Zoetis’ sales come from medications for pets (the remainder comes from products for livestock animals).<\/p>\n
Over the past five years, annual revenue has increased steadily, advancing from $6.7 billion in 2020 to just under $9.3 billion only four years later. Net income also improved sequentially over that stretch, from over $1.6 billion in the former year to almost $2.5 billion in 2024.<\/p>\n
![\"Zoetis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766516553_193_\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Today’s Change<\/p>\n
(-0.47%) $-0.58<\/p>\n
Current Price<\/p>\n
$123.20<\/p>\n
Key Data Points<\/p>\n
Market Cap<\/p>\n
$55B<\/p>\n
Day’s Range<\/p>\n
$122.46 – $123.72<\/p>\n
52wk Range<\/p>\n
$115.25 – $177.40<\/p>\n
Volume<\/p>\n
2.7M<\/p>\n
Avg Vol<\/p>\n
4.7M<\/p>\n
Gross Margin<\/p>\n
70.29%<\/p>\n
Dividend Yield<\/p>\n
1.62%<\/p>\n
Zoetis should continue to post top- and bottom-line growth on the back of that trend in pet ownership. A rising global population will also boost demand for animal protein, which in turn will support a rise in the company’s livestock business. Meanwhile, its pipeline is extensive and diverse, and it devotes considerable resources to developing new medications.<\/p>\n
In my view, Zoetis is a standout niche company in the pharmaceutical sector, and with those strong fundamentals, it’s certainly worthy of inclusion in any stock portfolio.<\/p>\n
Zoetis’ upcoming payout will be dispensed on March 3, 2026, to stockholders of record as of Jan. 20. It yields<\/a> an estimated 1.8%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The healthcare industry has never been a great source of dividends — that alone makes these companies exceptional.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":{"0":"post-367254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}