20 Highly Rated European Dividend Stocks

Europe’s roof is on fire due to the debt crises. That was one of the major headlines in the press over the past year. The fire still burns but the worst seems to be over.

Europe’s economy still has value. It’s also an export-driven region with a GDP of 13,076 billion, the second largest figure in the world. Certainly, the economy is weak, unemployment rates are at a high level of 11.8 percent and growth is slowing with a contracting GDP growth of -0.6 percent year over year.

But the currency market has turned, and is reaching the highest value since the debt crises. More and more money is coming back to Europe mainly because of the ECB's easing policy .

With that in mind, here are the best yielding investment opportunities with a current buy rating and a listing in the United States. 162 companies with headquarter in Europe are listed on an American Stock Exchange. 102 of them pay dividends and 57 have a current buy or better rating. In order to exclude the stocks with higher risk due to a narrow business model, I selected only stocks with a market capitalization over USD 10 billion. 41 stocks still remain.

The list shows that Europe still has competitive companies with a dominant market position such as Novo Nordisk, Anheuser Bush, Deutsche Bank and National Grid which are all leading players.

Sanofi (SNY) has a market capitalization of $129.70 billion. The company employs 113,719 people, generates revenue of $47.297 billion and has a net income of $6.562 billion. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $13.805 billion. The EBITDA margin is 29.19 percent (the operating margin is 16.18 percent and the net profit margin 13.87 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 15.41 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 27.46 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 10.42 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.05. Last fiscal year, the company paid $1.79 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 16.07, the P/S ratio is 2.74 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.70. The dividend yield amounts to 3.46 percent and the beta ratio has a value of 0.91.






Anheuser-Busch (BUD) has a market capitalization of $150.59 billion. The company employs 116,278 people, generates revenue of $39.046 billion and has a net income of $7.959 billion. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $14.479 billion. The EBITDA margin is 37.08 percent (the operating margin is 30.19 percent and the net profit margin 20.38 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 35.73 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 107.13 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 16.10 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $4.55. Last fiscal year, the company paid $1.55 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 20.67, the P/S ratio is 3.83 and the P/B ratio is finally 3.97. The dividend yield amounts to 1.67 percent and the beta ratio has a value of 0.86.






Covidien (COV) has a market capitalization of $29.74 billion. The company employs 43,400 people, generates revenue of $11.852 billion and has a net income of $1.902 billion. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $3.044 billion. The EBITDA margin is 25.68 percent (the operating margin is 20.34 percent and the net profit margin 16.05 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 22.64 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 47.70 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 18.66 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.93. Last fiscal year, the company paid $0.94 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 15.97, the P/S ratio is 2.52 and the P/B ratio is finally 2.83. The dividend yield amounts to 1.64 percent and the beta ratio has a value of 0.89.






Novo Nordisk (NVO) has a market capitalization of $120.37 billion. The company employs 33,501 people, generates revenue of $12.004 billion and has a net income of $3.093 billion. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $4.498 billion. The EBITDA margin is 37.48 percent (the operating margin is 33.72 percent and the net profit margin 25.77 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 1.32 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 2.28 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 45.95 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $6.64. Last fiscal year, the company paid $2.53 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 27.88, the P/S ratio is 6.89 and the P/B ratio is finally 15.07. The dividend yield amounts to 1.37 percent and the beta ratio has a value of 0.57.






Take a closer look at the full list of Europe's best dividend stocks with buy rating. The average P/E ratio amounts to 18.08 and forward P/E ratio is 13.02. The dividend yield has a value of 1.93 percent. Price to book ratio is 4.51 and price to sales ratio 2.35. The operating margin amounts to 17.35 percent and the beta ratio is 1.39. Stocks from the list have an average debt to equity ratio of 4.71. Sure some of Europe’s stocks have a really huge debt amount.

Here is the full table with some fundamentals (TTM):


Related stock ticker symbols:
NGG, SNY, CS, RIO, PHG, BT, ACE, ESV, TEL, WPPGY, PUK, COV, BUD, BCS, DB, NE,
LUX, NVO, ASML, UBS

Discosure: I am long NVO. I receive no compensation to write about these specific stocks, sector or theme. I don't plan to increase or decrease positions or obligations within the next 72 hours.

For the other stocks: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I receive no compensation to write about any specific stock, sector or theme.