Why These Companies Need Higher Dividends

In a healthy economy, investors rush to put their money into companies that will take decisive action to produce profits. Now that the economy has remained sluggish, however, investors want that money back in their own pockets to invest themselves -- and companies that won't deliver are getting taken out to the woodshed. Cheap tech?An article in Barron's over the weekend highlighted an interesting phenomenon among tech stocks. It noted that the tech sector was at its most undervalued level in nearly 20 years. As one possible explanation, the article suggested that most tech companies are cash-rich and have turned off investors by largely refusing to pay significant dividends -- or any dividends at all, in many cases.... Read more