45 Dividend Stocks With Good Credit Scores

In today’s low interest rate environment, investment-grade corporate bonds and government bonds offer very low yields. Investors seeking additional income in today’s markets are tempted to purchase high yield debt and dividend-yielding stocks. Fixed income investors should realize that there is nothing for free, and that there are risks associated with higher returns. Investors should attempt to understand and weigh the risks of their holdings. Fortunately, there are credit scoring systems that classify stocks into different risk classes according to quantitative measures. One predictive measure of bankruptcy for non-financial companies is the Altman Z-Score. This score places companies into three groups: “safe” (Z-score > 2.99), “grey” (Z-score between 2.99 and 1.81), and “distressed*” (Z-score < 1.81). This metric is surprisingly useful for identifying bankruptcy risk in the coming year. Atlman’s method of segmenting companies uses fundamental (financial statement) data and market capitalization only.** Beyond credit risk prediction, companies with higher... Read more