The Democratic Party's victory in the midterms has raised doubts about the prospects of artificial intelligence trading, as voters clearly oppose the rapid expansion of data centers. Amidst concerns over AI trading, macroeconomic uncertainties, and geopolitical tensions, the stock market may still remain volatile.

In this case, investors can include dividend-paying stocks in their portfolios to obtain a stable income. However, the wide range of dividend stocks also makes screening more difficult. Recommendations from top Wall Street analysts can help investors narrow down their choices, as these experts provide ratings after conducting in-depth financial analyses.

The following are three dividend-paying stocks tracked by TipRanks and highly recommended by top professionals on Wall Street. TipRanks is a platform that ranks these stocks based on the past performance of analysts.

Viper Energy

Viper Energy ( VNOM ) is a subsidiary of Diamondback, owning and acquiring mineral rights and royalties, mainly located in Permian basins. The company announced third-quarter results that exceeded expectations, driven by recent acquisitions as well as the ongoing development activities of Diamondback and third-party operators. Viper announced a basic cash dividend of $0.50 per share for the third quarter of 2026, to be paid on November 19th. Based on the basic and variable dividends announced over the past 12 months, VNOM has a dividend yield of 5.7%.

After the release of third-quarter earnings, TD Cowen analyst Aaron Bilkoski reiterated his buy rating on Viper Energy stock, with a target price of $61. The analyst noted that the company delivered solid third-quarter results, with production (including crude oil and natural gas liquids) exceeding both TD Cowen's expectations and market consensus.

This five-star analyst emphasized that the key update was that the company announced two franchise fee acquisitions, with a cash consideration of $809 million, which includes deferred consideration, as well as $82 million in newly issued shares.

In light of the recent announcement to increase the basic dividend, Bilkoski expects that Viper will use the additional free cash flow for share repurchases. Although these acquisitions will increase the leverage ratio, the analyst believes that Viper still has sufficient capacity to carry out opportunistic share repurchases.

Bilkoski pointed out that Viper has historically experienced one of the highest unit production growth rates within the scope of its royalties, yet its valuation is still significantly discounted compared to the average level of its peers in royalties and the company's historical free cash flow yield range. "In our view, such growth above the average deserves a higher valuation," said the analyst.

Bilkoski ranks 525th among more than 12,500 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have resulted in profits 57% of the time, with an average return rate of 12.80%.

Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) announced strong third-quarter profits for 2026 as U.S. refineries increased production to capitalize on high diesel prices triggered by conflicts in the Middle East. The oil and gas giant declared a quarterly dividend of $1.07 per share, to be paid on December 10th, representing a 3.9% increase from the previous quarter. This marks Exxon's 44th consecutive year of raising dividends. Calculated at an annualized rate of $4.28 per share, XOM's dividend yield is 2.53%.

Boosted by third-quarter performance, TD Cowen analyst Jason Gabelman reiterated his buy rating on Exxon's stock, raising the target price from $180 to $193 to reflect improved profitability in downstream businesses, and expects that the medium-term profit margin will increase.

Gabelman pointed out that the strong performance of Exxon's refining business continues to offset the unfavorable factors related to the Middle East. He added that the company has increased its stake in the LNG project, which should reduce its concentration in the Middle East from 75% to 50% over time, and also decrease the likelihood of mergers and acquisitions aimed at diversification. Apart from LNG, Gabelman expects that Exxon's growth in the 2030s will come from Guyana, the Kashagan, the Permian Basin, and may even include Venezuela.

Gabelman also noted that Exxon announced a nearly 4% increase in dividends and plans to maintain a repurchase scale of $20 billion in 2027. 'Maintaining this decision reduces the pro-cyclical nature of the repurchases,' said the analyst.

Gabelman ranks 347th among more than 12,500 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings are successful 66% of the time, with an average return rate of 16.90%.

Williams

Williams ( WMB ) owns and operates energy infrastructure for the transportation of natural gas, and the company announced strong third-quarter results. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend of $2.10 per share, to be paid on December 28th. The dividend yield of WMB is 3.09%.

Regarding the third-quarter performance of 2026, analyst Robert Catellier from CIBC reiterated his buy rating on Williams stock, with a target price of $82. The analyst noted that the third-quarter performance was largely in line with expectations, reflecting the continued strength in the execution of WMB's infrastructure asset portfolio.

Catellier indicates that Williams's performance in the third quarter was driven by increased revenues from transportation, storage, and power generation, as well as contributions from the acquisition of Momentum Midstream.

He pointed out that Williams maintains the annual EBITDA guidance of $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion unchanged. In fact, with the support of recently completed projects and contributions from Momentum Midstream transactions, performance is moving towards the upper end of this guidance range. WMB still aims to achieve a long-term EBITDA compound annual growth rate of at least 11% by 2030.

Catellier It is expected that the long-term goals of WMB will be supported by incremental transportation and storage opportunities, which include Transco's Southeast Supply Enhancement II project, as well as the expansion of Garden Connector project to 84 million cubic feet per day.

Catellier ranks 667th among more than 12,500 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings are successful 66% of the time, with an average return rate of 9.60%.