The Smartest Dividend Stock to Buy With $1,000 Right Now (Spoiler: It Yields 5.6%.)
Key Points
Sanofi is growing well, thanks in large part to its drug Dupixent.
It has more drugs in development, some of which could turn into big sellers.
Its stock is appealingly priced, too.
If you've got $1,000 and you're looking to invest in a promising dividend-paying stock, good for you! Since 1973, average annual returns in the S&P 500 have been substantially higher for stocks that have launched or increased their annual dividend. So, you should feel pretty good about your decision.
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Dividend-Paying Status of S&P 500 Stocks Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks » |
Average Annual Total Return, 1973-2025 |
|---|---|
|
Dividend growers and initiators |
10.22% |
|
Dividend payers |
9.20% |
|
No change in dividend policy |
6.87% |
|
Dividend non-payers |
4.21% |
|
Dividend shrinkers and eliminators |
(0.96%) |
|
Equal-weighted S&P 500 index |
7.74% |
Data source: Ned Davis Research and Hartford Funds.
But which stock should you buy? I suggest you take a closer look at Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY), a pharmaceutical company focused on immunology, vaccines, and rare diseases. Although the French company is not in the S&P 500 (the index is restricted to companies headquartered in the U.S.), Sanofi's stock has a hefty dividend yield of 5.6%, and when you factor in the effect of substantial stock buybacks, the total yield for shareholders approaches 11%.
The stock has averaged annual gains of only 4% over the past decade, and it's down nearly 15% over the past year, pushing the stock into, arguably, bargain territory. Its forward price-to-earnings ratio is 9, well below its five-year average of 11.
Image source: Getty Images.
What matters most is where the stock goes from here, though, and that's promising. The company's top drug is Dupixent, an injection treating chronic inflammatory conditions. In its first quarter, Dupixent's sales grew by 31% year over year. Some are already worrying about the drug losing patent protection in the U.S. market in 2031. That's still some years away, though, and Sanofi has plenty of drugs in development.
Meanwhile, that first-quarter report also featured overall sales growing by 13.6% year over year and five regulatory approvals (all in immunology). Sanofi is performing well and growing -- and it will reward long-term investors well with its outsized dividend yield.
Should you buy stock in Sanofi right now?
Before you buy stock in Sanofi, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Sanofi wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $379,662!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,206,116!*
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*Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2026.
Selena Maranjian has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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