US stocks remain undecided on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, citing increased uncertainty surrounding the world’s largest economy in 2025.
Amidst a difficult macro environment, Jefferies analysts believe that dividend stocks will emerge as winners in the back half of this year, as they historically do during challenging times.
Names that the investment firm likes in particular include Coca-Cola, IBM, and JPMorgan.
Let’s take a closer look at what each of these three has in store for investors in 2025.
Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO)
Jefferies sees the beverage and snacks giant as strongly positioned to weather a challenging macro environment in 2025.
The multinational has sustainable drivers for organic sales growth, which may help improve its per-share earnings this year despite macro headwinds, its analysts argued in a recent report.
Their peers at Wells Fargo also found the reassurance they were looking for in their meeting with the management in March.
“We couldn’t help but hear a message even if unstated: storm clouds come and go … all weather strategy does not,” they told clients in a research note at the time.
Note that the consensus rating on Coca-Cola stock currently sits at “overweight,” and at writing, it pays a healthy dividend yield of 2.82%.
IBM (NYSE: IBM)
Jefferies remains bullish on IBM shares as well, which are bucking the trend in 2025.
Trump tariffs and the subsequent threat of a recession ahead have weighed rather significantly on the US tech stocks in recent months.
Still, IBM is up nearly 15% versus the start of the year at writing.
On top of outperformance, IBM is a dividend stock that currently yields 2.66%, which makes it all the more exciting to own amidst an uncertain macroeconomic environment this year.
In April, Wedbush even dubbed IBM stock a “best idea” as it’s strongly positioned to leverage the demand for AI applications.
The investment firm is positive on the computing giant as it “balances growth with operating leverage into its business model to drive its free cash flow profile.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM)
Finally, Jefferies analysts recommend owning JPM shares as a “defensive yield play” amidst an uncertain macro environment. The banking giant currently pays a dividend yield of 2.24%.
According to Wells Fargo, the multinational financial services behemoth stands to “benefit from volatility given its role as market facilitator, likely helping trading” in the near term.
Expected deregulation under the Trump administration could help JPMorgan stock retain strength in the medium term, while the firm’s aggressive spending on technology will drive longer-term market share gains, its analysts added.
Wall Street currently has a consensus “overweight” rating on JPM with price targets going as high as $330, indicating potential upside of nearly 35% from here.
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