The High-Yield Vs. Low-Yield Battle

In two recent articles, I detailed the various histories of both the lowest- and highest-yielding Dividend Champions -- companies that have not only paid but also increased dividends for at least 25 years. In the lowest-yielding article, I looked at 5 companies with a dividend yield of less than 1%: C.R. Bard (NYSE: BCR), Energen Corp (NYSE: EGN), Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN), Nordson Corporation (Nasdaq: NDSN) and Sigma-Aldrich (Nasdaq: SIAL). The lesson gleaned from this commentary was that a low yield precludes neither a reasonable stream of income nor solid returns. In the highest-yielding article, I examined 4 companies with a beginning dividend yield above 5%: Universal Health Realty Trust (NYSE: UHT), HCP, Inc. (NYSE: HCP), Mercury Corporation (NYSE: MCY) and AT&T (NYSE: T). This review found that the high yield often came at the expense of lower growth or a seemingly less secure payout. As a bookend to these reviews, I thought it might be interesting... Read more