Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway is reaching new all-time highs despite a year-to-date sell-off in major indexes like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.
The simplest way to invest in Buffett's top ideas is to buy Berkshire stock directly. Another option is to scan Berkshire's public equity holdings for investment ideas.
Here's why Berkshire holdings Chevron(NYSE: CVX), Louisiana-Pacific(NYSE: LPX), and Visa(NYSE: V) stand out as three top dividend stocks to buy now.
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Robust operations throughout the energy value chain make Chevron well-suited to thrive
Scott Levine (Chevron): After growing to become one of the largest positions in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio, Chevron is one of only two energy stocks that has received the Warren Buffett seal of approval. Unlike some energy companies that find themselves on shaky ground when energy prices decline, the company is especially resilient. With its 4.1% forward-yielding dividend, it represents a great option for conservative investors looking to amp up their passive income.
Whereas some oil companies are limited in their ability to engage in exploration and production activities when energy prices drop because they will not recognize sufficient margins, Chevron operates upstream, midstream, and downstream assets. This helps mitigate the adverse effects of lower energy prices, helping to ensure it remains on solid financial ground. Plus, the company has expanded production of its Permian assets, by about 18% from 2023 to 2024. Permian assets are usually higher-margin, and management lauded its Permian position on the fourth-quarter 2024 conference call, characterizing it as "a highly economic asset that is a core position that will generate production and cash long into the future."
With respect to rewarding shareholders, Chevron distinguishes itself as having hiked its dividend for 38 consecutive years. And the increases are substantial. Should the company maintain the same quarterly dividend per share of $1.71 that it paid in first-quarter 2025 through the rest of the year, it'll mean the company will have raised its distribution at a 4.8% compound annual growth rate since 2015. For dividend-hungry investors, Chevron is certainly a stock worth feasting on.
A boring Buffett stock that can outperform while no one is watching
Lee Samaha(Louisiana-Pacific Corporation): In many ways, Louisiana-Pacific is a quintessential Warren Buffett stock. It's not one of Berkshire Hathaway's glamor holdings, and it's not a well-known stock among retail investors. Still, it is a solid business with an excellent market position in an industry with positive long-term growth prospects.
Louisiana-Pacific's management believes it's the largest player in the engineered wood siding market in North America, and it's also one of the largest players in the oriented strand board (OSB) market. For the uninitiated, OSB is simply board made from wood chips compressed and glued together -- a cheaper option than plywood in construction.
The company's growth strategy involves taking market share in siding from alternatives like vinyl or fiber cement in the repair/remodel market and winning share over fiber cement and wood in new construction, due to engineered wood's durability and sustainability advantages. In OSB, management plans to offer more specialized structural solutions as opposed to commoditized OSB.
While it's no secret that high interest rates are curtailing the housing market, they won't last forever. As outlined above, the company has a growth opportunity in the less cyclical repair and remodel market. Trading on 17 times expected 2025 earnings in what's likely to prove a trough year, Louisiana-Pacific is a decent value stock that can be part of a long-term portfolio.
Buying Visa near an all-time high is still a great idea
Daniel Foelber (Visa): Berkshire Hathaway is heavily invested in the financial sector, especially with its property and casualty insurance companies, which don't appear on Berkshire's public equity holdings list. But Berkshire has massive stakes in public financial stocks, too.
Its second-largest public equity holding is American Express, followed by Bank of America. Berkshire also owns Mastercard and Visa.
Visa offers investors a rare blend of growth, income, and value. Like other financial companies, Visa benefits from economic growth. If customers use Visa credit and debit cards more frequently and in higher transaction volumes, Visa will collect more fees. The business model is inflation-resistant because fees are based on percentages rather than fixed amounts.
Unlike banks that assume borrowers' risk, Visa operates a processing network. In this vein, it is merely an intermediary between consumers and other financial institutions. Visa doesn't bear the risk if consumers don't pay back their credit card balance. Rather, the biggest risk to Visa is that customers will choose to use forms of payment other than its cards. But given Visa's global dominance, that doesn't seem to be a major concern, as many merchants have bought into the system and accept Visa cards.
Visa is one of those rare companies where the business model is so outstanding that the decision on whether to buy the stock or not really just comes down to valuation. Unfortunately, Visa's stock price has been going up faster than earnings, despite relentless buybacks. So the dividend yield has fallen to 0.7%, and the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has ballooned to 35.3 -- which is well above the company's historical median P/E ratio.
However, as you can see in the chart, Visa's forward P/E is 31 -- which is closer to its average level. This means that if Visa's stock price doesn't move for a year and its earnings come in as expected, its valuation will be back at historical averages.
Therefore, patient investors with multi-year or even multi-decade time horizons can still buy Visa right now, knowing that the stock is arguably overvalued -- but not by so much that it's worth passing on.
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American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Daniel Foelber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Scott Levine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
