1 Magnificent Dividend Stock Down 22% That's a Screaming Buy Right Now

Abbott Laboratories (ABT 2.00%), a medical device specialist, recently fell off a cliff after a disappointing quarterly update that missed consensus top-line estimates. The healthcare giant is roughly 22% down from its 52-week high of $139.06 as of writing. However, for investors focused on the long game, this may be a great opportunity to load up on the stock. Read on to find out why.

Multiple growth avenues and an attractive dividend

Abbott Laboratories’ revenue in the fourth quarter increased by just 4.4% year over year to $11.5 billion. Weak performances within the company’s diagnostic and nutrition businesses pulled sales growth in the wrong direction. Can Abbott Laboratories jump-start revenue growth? My view is that it can. Let’s consider three reasons why. First, the company’s most important segment, medical devices, continues to perform well. In the fourth quarter, Abbott’s medical device revenue of $5.7 billion increased by 12.3% year over year.

Image source: Getty Images.

Second, several of the company’s medical device products have excellent long-term prospects. That’s particularly true of Abbott Laboratories’ FreeStyle Libre franchise, a suite of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices that help diabetes patients track their blood sugar levels. There is a vast worldwide opportunity here, since the CGM market remains deeply underpenetrated. As the company noted a few years ago, only 1% of the world’s diabetics use CGM.

Several things should increase the adoption of CGM devices over the long run, including improved technology – Abbott has launched several versions of its FreeStyle Libre, each better than the last – and expanded third-party coverage. Some of Abbott’s other franchises look likely to be growth drivers for a while, including its MitraClip and TriClip, which are leading products in their niches within the company’s structural heart business. Third, Abbott announced that it was acquiring Exact Sciences (EXAS 0.18%), a cancer diagnostic specialist, for about $21 billion in cash.

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NYSE: ABT

Abbott Laboratories

Today’s Change

(-2.00%) $-2.22

Current Price

$108.49

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$189B

Day’s Range

$107.75 - $109.94

52wk Range

$105.27 - $139.06

Volume

31K

Avg Vol

9.7M

Gross Margin

52.72%

Dividend Yield

2.21%

This merger will help boost the company’s diagnostic business. Exact Sciences’ most important product, Cologuard, is one of the leaders in its niche as an at-home, non-invasive test for colorectal cancer (CRC). Although Cologuard was first approved in 2014 in the U.S., more than 55 million eligible patients in the country remain unscreened, which is a problem since CRC is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the world.

Exact Sciences is expanding beyond that, including with a multicancer diagnostic test. With the help of the larger Abbott Laboratories, Exact Sciences’ products should expand their reach and become even more successful. Thanks to these opportunities, Abbott’s top-line growth should bounce back. Meanwhile, the stock is an excellent option for dividend seekers. Abbott’s forward yield tops 2.3% after the stock’s decline.

That’s higher than the 1.2% average for the S&P 500. Further, Abbott Laboratories has increased its dividends for 54 straight years. That makes it a Dividend King, a group of corporations with 50 (or more) consecutive years of annual dividend increases. So, despite recent issues, Abbott remains an excellent stock to buy, as its financial results should improve while it maintains its strong dividend program.