Pitney Bowes, H&R Block, & Mattel Lead 26 'Safe' S&P 500 Dividend Dog February Gains

The Dividend Dogs Rule
The "dog" moniker was earned by stocks exhibiting three traits: (1) paying reliable, repeating dividends, (2) their prices fell to where (3) yield (dividend/price) grew higher than their peers. Thus, the highest yielding stocks in any collection became known as "dogs." More specifically, these are, in fact, best called, "underdogs."

Which Sectors Are "Safe" For The S&P 500?
Ten of eleven Morningstar sectors were represented by the 26 firms whose dividends were bolstered by adequate cash as of February 21. The sector representation broke-out, thus: Communication Services (2); Consumer Cyclical (8); Industrials (1); Technology (4); Real Estate (3); Utilities (2); Energy (2); Healthcare (2); Financial Services (1); Consumer Defensive (1); Basic Materials (0).
Top ten S&P500 "safe" dogs showing the widest safety margin of cash to cover dividends by this screen as of February 21 represented the first five sectors on the list above.
S&P500 Index Firms With "Safe" Dividends

Periodic Safety Inspection
You see grouped below the list that passed the S&P500 Index dog "safety" check with sufficient annual cash flow yield to cover their anticipated annual dividend yield. The margin of excess is shown in the bold face "Safety Margin" column.

Corporate financial solvency however is readily over-turned by a conniving or tightwad board of... Read more