3 Dividend Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist in March

If you're looking for a stock to buy in March, you should start your search with dividend payers NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE), Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD), and Stanley Black Decker (NYSE: SWK). They will each appeal to different types of investors, but they all offer very attractive stories today. Here's a quick look at each.

A lot of dividend investors will look at NextEra Energy's 3.7% dividend yield, which is roughly average for a utility, and move right on to the next investment. That would be a mistake if you like dividend growth, since NextEra has increased its dividend at a roughly 10% clip over the past decade. And that payment has been increased annually for nearly 30 years. The key here, however, is that the utility sector downturn has pushed NextEra's yield up to near the highest in a decade, suggesting the stock is on sale.

What you get if you buy NextEra is a unique combination of a boring regulated utility business (about 70% of the company) and a fast-growing clean-energy company (30%). And while rising rates may take the growth rate down a notch, the company is still projecting 6% to 8% earnings growth through 2026. That's a rapid clip in the utility sector, and it should keep the dividend on a solid upward path. Long-term dividend growth investors have an opportunity to add a great company at a reasonable price today, and that shouldn't be ignored.

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Source Fool.com