Defensive Dividend Portfolio Picks For 2012 (Part 1: Utilities)

Over the course of the next several articles we will highlight our Defensive Dividend Portfolio picks for 2012. Each article will focus on a specific low-beta, defensive sector: Utilities Healthcare Consumer Staples MLPs Mortgages REITs This article focuses specifically on the Utility sector. Macro View The U.S. economy continues to have significant headwinds (e.g., high unemployment, European credit contagion, weak housing market, high debt levels, etc.) and the current "relief rally" is likely to be short-lived. The global economy is being weighed down by a debt problem that took over two decades to create. Given the significant build-up in peace time debt, we believe that the debt problem will take years to sort out, providing significant uncertainty and market volatility.... more

Defensive Dividend Portfolio Picks For 2012 (Part 2: Health Care)

Over the course of the next several articles we will highlight our Defensive Dividend Portfolio picks for 2012. Each article will focus on a specific low-beta, defensive sector: Utilities Healthcare Consumer Staples MLPs Mortgages REITs This article focuses specifically on the Health Care sector. Macro View The U.S. economy continues to have significant headwinds (e.g., high unemployment, European credit contagion, weak housing market, high debt levels, etc.) and the year-end "relief rally" is likely to be short-lived. The global economy is being weighed down by a debt problem that took over two decades to create. Given the significant build-up in peace time debt, we believe that the debt problem will take years to sort out, providing significant uncertainty and market... more

3 Stocks That Can Keep Paying Big Dividends, 2 That Can't

In times like these, when stocks are characterized with extreme volatility and global financial turmoil has brought uncertainty around, investors rightly prefer high dividend paying stocks. Stocks with a high dividend yield result in a positive return turn to one's stock portfolio by giving a steady income. However, some high dividend stocks could not escape the market correction recently and underperformed the benchmark. I believe some of these stocks are significantly undervalued and offer unusually high dividend yields. Further, such stocks act as an inflation hedge when companies increase their payouts. But, one should be wary of company's ability to keep paying dividends in future. Chimera Investment Corporation (CIM) is currently yielding dividends at 15.77%, with a payout ratio is... more

Defensive Dividend Portfolio Picks For 2012 (Part 3: Consumer Staples)

Over the course of the next several articles we will highlight our Defensive Dividend Portfolio picks for 2012. Each article will focus on a specific low-beta, defensive sector: Utilities Healthcare Consumer Staples MLPs Mortgages REITs This article focuses specifically on the Consumer Staples sector. Macro View The U.S. economy continues to have significant headwinds (e.g., high unemployment, European credit contagion, weak housing market, high debt levels, etc.) and the current "relief rally" is likely to be short-lived. The global economy is being weighed down by a debt problem that took over two decades to create. Given the significant build-up in peace time debt, we believe that the debt problem will take years to sort out, providing significant uncertainty and... more

How 5 Dividend Kings Stack Up Against The Competition

During uncertain market times, investors look for more safety. And what better place than sound companies, with proper valuations that provide a decent dividend while waiting for the stock to appreciate in time? Here are five companies to look into based on their dividends, dividend sustainability, growth prospects and comparison to main competitors in the market place. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): The stock is trading at around $65 at the time of writing, with a 52-week trading range of 57.50-68.05. The shares yield a 3.5% dividend rate, which fares well compared to its main competitors: Abbott Laboratories (ABT) is yielding 3.42% and Novartis (NVS) yields 3.43%, respectively. Johnson & Johnson has systematically raised dividends each year for the last 20 years, even in the midst of two... more

10 Dividend Stocks That Can Boost Payouts

Dividend yielding stocks offer the potential for dividend growth. Increases in dividend payments are a fundamental distinction between dividend income from stocks and fixed coupon payments from bonds. Investors who are anxious to protect the purchasing power of their investment income over the long term are better served by selecting dividend paying stocks which are poised to increase dividend payments in coming years. The following screen was performed to find dividend paying stocks with the capacity to increase dividend payments and which have histories of doing so: Low payout ratio. Each of the following stocks has a maxium payout ratio of 0.25, indicating that only 25% of earnings are being paid out as dividends. Long term historical return on equity. Each of these stocks has an... more

7 Interesting Plays With Yields As High 15%

Investors should pay attention to the following key metrics as they could prove to be extremely useful in the selection process. Price to cash flow ratio is obtained by dividing the share price by cash flow per share. It is a measure of the market's expectations of a company's future financial health. The effects of depreciation and other non cash factors are removed, and this makes it easier for investors to assess foreign companies in the same industry. This ratio also provides a measure of relative value like the price to earning's ratio. Price to free cash flow is obtained by dividing the share price by free cash flow per share. Higher ratios are associated with more expensive companies and vice versa; lower ratios are generally more attractive. If a company generated 400 million in... more

Windstream's Dividend X-Ray

Not all dividends are created equal. Here, we'll do a top-to-bottom analysis of a given company to understand the quality of its dividend and how that's changed over the past five years.
The company we're looking at today is Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) , which yields 8.1%.
Dividend
To evaluate the quality of a dividend, the first thing to consider is whether the company has paid a dividend consistently over the past five years, and, if so, how much has it grown.
Windstream's dividend has been stable at $0.25 per quarter for the past five years.
Immediate safety
To understand how safe a dividend is, we use a couple of crucial tools, the first of which is:... more

Duke Energy's Dividend X-Ray

Not all dividends are created equal. Here, we'll do a top-to-bottom analysis of a given company to understand the quality of its dividend and how that's changed over the past five years.
The company we're looking at today is Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), which yields 4.7%.
Dividend
To evaluate the quality of a dividend, the first thing to consider is whether the company has paid a dividend consistently over the past five years, and if so, how much has it grown.
Duke Energy has been steadily raising its dividend every year. Most recently Duke raised its dividend from $0.245 to $0.25 per quarter.
Immediate safety
To understand how safe a dividend is, we use three crucial tools, the first of which is:... more

2 Dividend Stocks With Big Upside

The following video is part of today's MarketFoolery podcast, in which host Chris Hill, senior analyst Jason Moser, and advisor James Early discuss the latest business news. Johnson & Johnson and Kimberly-Clark report their latest quarterly earnings. The guys analyze the numbers and look at the consumer-goods industry to find two dividend-paying stocks with big upside.
... more