3 Strong Dividend Stocks for the Everyday Investor

After running a dividend screen through the companies that encompass the S&P 500 (SPY), 169 companies were highlighted that pay higher dividends than the average of their respective sectors. In this commentary I will produce two different lists with analysis on the top 3 companies that should be included in your portfolio. I found it best to sort the data into two categories: First by market cap and second by the spread relative to the sector average. To begin the analysis, the chart below displays the companies paying dividends higher than the industry average, sorted by market capitalization. The list starts with Microsoft (MSFT) paying 2.54% compared with the sector average of 1.38%. IBM and Chervon (CVX) are next on the list of highest dividend yield sorted by company size. While these are solid investments for any portfolio, I spent the afternoon looking for companies that are flying under the... Read more