Dividend Stocks as Alternatives to Treasuries

Last week the stock market had a good week, and the bond market corrected a bit. Still, relative to the yield on the 10-year t-note of 2.71% on Friday, stocks look extremely attractive. The S&P 500 is trading for just 13.4x consensus expectations for 2010, and 11.6x 2011 expectations. That translates into earnings yields of 7.46% and 8.62%, respectively. However, an earnings yield does not provide you with that much cash in your hand. For an apples to apples comparison, it is the dividend yield that is worth looking at. Of course, that which is not paid out in the form of dividends is held on your behalf to be reinvested in the business, or is returned to you by the company buying back stock. From a tax efficiency standpoint, stock buybacks are a better way to return cash to shareholders than are dividends, but they do not provide the same satisfaction as a check in the mail every three months (or more likely a credit to your brokerage account).... Read more