4 Companies Expected To Increase Dividends And Stand Up To The New, Volatile Market

With volatility increasing, the conservative investor would be well advised to lower the percentage of his portfolio dedicated to growth stocks, diverting that money into safer investments. To gain a good balance between security and reward, one solid option is "safe speculation" on dividend stocks. The so-called safe speculation I plan on discussing here is buying a dividend stock before it increases its dividends in the coming three months.
Unlike the general term "speculation," what I discuss here has upsides with no real downside. Most companies follow a pattern in when they increase dividends. The stocks I have chosen for this list are companies with strong financials to continue their dividend growth that are approaching the "dividend increase" phase of their dividend pattern. While the companies do not mention that they will be increasing their dividends prior to the dividend statement, many dividend hikes are predictable. We look for patterns in dividend increases, such as yearly, half-yearly or quarterly increases; we also want to ensure that the company can maintain the dividend payout by checking the financials and future prospects of the company.
Should you be wrong in predicting a dividend hike, you still have the stock and standard dividend. But should you be right, you will profit in two ways:
1. Increased yield-to-cost ratio.
2. Increased stock value (announcements of dividend increases tend to raise stock value).
In the... Read more