Zacks.com featured highlights Qifu Technology, TJX Companies and UGI
Chicago, IL – May 14, 2025 – The stocks in this week's article are Qifu Technology Inc. QFIN, The TJX Companies Inc. TJX and UGI Corp. UGI.
Wall Street has staged a strong comeback over the past month due to easing trade tensions. The U.S.-China trade truce and the U.S.-UK deal spread optimism into the stock market. However, uncertainty surrounding Trump and Fed policies continued to linger. In such a scenario, dividend investing seems the best choice as it offers consistent and safe income.
Though the strategy does not offer dramatic price appreciation, it is a major source of consistent income for investors in any market. In particular, focusing on the growth level in this strategy leads to higher returns. Stocks with a strong history of year-over-year dividend growth form a healthy portfolio, with a greater scope of capital appreciation, as opposed to simple dividend-paying stocks or those with high yields.
We have selected three dividend growth stocks — Qifu Technology Inc., The TJX Companies Inc. and UGI Corp. — that could be compelling picks for investors.
Stocks that have a strong history of dividend growth belong to mature companies, which are less susceptible to large swings in the market, and thus act as a hedge against economic or political uncertainty as well as stock market volatility. At the same time, these offer downside protection with their consistent increase in payouts.
Additionally, these stocks have superior fundamentals that make dividend growth a quality and promising investment for the long term. These include a sustainable business model, a long track of profitability, rising cash flows, good liquidity, a strong balance sheet and some value characteristics. Further, a history of strong dividend growth indicates that a dividend increase is likely in the future.
Although these stocks do not necessarily have the highest yields, they have outperformed for a longer period than the broader stock market or any other dividend-paying stock.
As a result, picking dividend growth stocks appears as a winning strategy when some other parameters are also included.
Here are three stocks that fit the bill:
China-based Qifu Technology is a Credit-Tech platform principally in China that provides a comprehensive suite of technology services to assist financial institutions and consumers and SMEs in the loan lifecycle, ranging from borrower acquisition, preliminary credit assessment, fund matching and post-facilitation services. The stock has an estimated earnings growth rate of 22.4% for this year and delivered an average earnings surprise of 14.46% in the last four quarters.
Qifu has a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score of B. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Massachusetts-based TJX Companies is a leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the United States and worldwide. The company's broad range of assortments at varying prices helps it reach out to a broad range of consumers. TJX has an estimated earnings growth rate of 3.99% for the fiscal year ending January 2026 and delivered an average earnings surprise of 5.47% in the past four quarters.
TJX Companies has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of A.
Pennsylvania-based UGI Corp. is a holding company that distributes, stores, transports and markets energy products and related services through its subsidiaries. It is a domestic and international retail distributor of propane and butane liquefied petroleum gases; a provider of natural gas and electric service via regulated local distribution utilities; a generator of electricity and a regional marketer of energy commodities. The stock saw a positive earnings estimate revision of 3 cents for the fiscal year (ending September 2025) over the past 30 days.
UGI Corporation has a Zacks Rank #2 and a Growth Score of B.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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