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Warren Buffett, the legendary Oracle of Omaha and perhaps the most famous investor who ever lived, owes much of his success to his buy-and-hold approach, which typically focuses on blue-chip dividend stocks. Berkshire Hathaway’s huge positions in companies like Bank of America Corp. New York Stock Exchange: BAK and Apple Inc. NASDAQ:AAPL earning the company billions of dollars in dividends each year.

Stocks with stable dividends can be a strong defensive play during periods of market turbulence – these companies tend to be well-established and less likely to fail in broader volatility – and the passive income they provide through distributions can be reinvested to grow profit. However, a company’s dividend performance provides only part of an investor’s broader view of the firm as a potential investment target. That’s why it can be helpful for dividend investors to also consider what Wall Street thinks more broadly about a particular stock before investing in it.

In the dividend stock space, three companies with a large number of recent “buy” ratings from Wall Street analysts include Motorola Solutions Inc. New York Stock Exchange: MSINike Inc. NYSE: FROMand Townsquare Media Inc. New York Stock Exchange: TSQ.

Motorola Solutions: Stellar Demand in a Growing Industry

Motorola Solutions is a telecommunications company specializing in radio systems, security and surveillance technologies, and control systems and software. It operates independently from the Motorola smartphone brand, both companies split in 2011.

Motorola Solutions’ recent results have impressed investors, with the company reporting 9.2% year-over-year revenue growth and growing operating cash flow in the third quarter of 2024.

The reason for this performance is high demand for the company’s security products, which have a wide range of applications including police, retail, border security and more. Fortunately for Motorola, this demand shows no signs of slowing down and is likely to increase in the short term.

With eight of nine analysts rating Motorola Solutions a Buy, the company’s consensus price target of $504.88 is more than 9% above current levels as of January 2, 2025. This upside potential exists despite MSI shares having already risen more than 48% in the year leading up to this date.

Nike: Tough times, but a turnaround is possible

Nike had a rough 2024, with shares down nearly 30% for the year beginning January 2, 2024. The stock price fell amid a failed direct-to-consumer effort, poor sales in Asian markets and a slowdown in U.S. consumer spending.

However, as we look ahead to 2025, there are reasons for optimism. Former CEO Elliot Hill returned late in the year, helping beat consensus earnings per share estimates for his first quarter at the company. However, the firm expects it will take time to recover, forecasting a sharp decline in revenue in the current quarter while Hill seeks to rebuild its wholesaler business and return to a focus on leading brands.

All this suggests that now may be the time for investors to buy the dip. Despite recent problems, Nike remains one of the world’s leading sportswear companies.

The firm maintains its position as a dividend player with a payout ratio above 49% and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Given the recent decline in stock prices, analysts forecast Nike shares to rise nearly 19% to reach a consensus price target of $89.58.

Townsquare Media: Revenues grow as SummitMedia partnership grows

Townsquare Media is a small-cap digital media company with analyst estimates of over 80% growth potential. After a period of share price volatility, the company recently announced a return to total and digital revenue growth in its November 2024 earnings report.

More importantly, the company’s partnership with SummitMedia, announced in October, is likely to bear fruit in 2025.

The partnership expands Townsquare’s presence into new markets including Honolulu, Birmingham, Omaha and Louisville.

Townsquare likely remains undervalued based on its P/S ratio of 0.3. If the company can continue to grow revenue, it will also have an easier time maintaining its impressive dividend payout ratio of 8.5%.

While Townsquare isn’t as stable as Motorola or Nike above, it still offers some attractive prospects for dividend investors.

Before you consider Motorola Solutions, here’s what you need to hear.

MarketBeat tracks Wall Street’s top-rated and best-performing analysts daily and the stocks they recommend to their clients. MarketBeat identified five stocks that top analysts were quietly telling their clients to buy now, before the broader market caught on… and Motorola Solutions wasn’t on the list.

While Motorola Solutions currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, the top-rated analysts consider these five stocks to be Strong Buys.

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