Chesapeake Lodging Trust Announces 2011 Dividend Income Tax Treatment

Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE: CHSP) announced today the estimated income tax classification of the Trust’s 2011 distributions on its common shares (CUSIP #165240102). The income tax classification of the 2011 distributions as it is expected to be reported on Form 1099-DIV is set forth in the following table1:... more

RMR Real Estate Income Fund Declares its Final Dividend and the Completion of its Merger into RMR Asia Pacific Real Estate Fund

After the close of business on Friday, January 20, 2012, RMR Real Estate Income Fund (NYSE Amex: RIF) was merged with and into RMR Asia Pacific Real Estate Fund (NYSE Amex: RAP), and RIF ceased to exist as a separate publicly listed company. (Hereinafter in this press release, RIF will be referred to as “Old RIF”.) In connection with this merger, RAP was renamed “RMR Real Estate Income Fund”. (Hereinafter in this press release, RAP, as renamed, will be referred to as “New RIF”.)... more

Twin Disc, Inc. Increases Quarterly Cash Dividend to $0.09 Per Share from $0.08 Per Share

Twin Disc, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWIN), announced today that the Board of Directors increased the quarterly cash dividend to $0.09 per share from $0.08 per share payable on March 1, 2012, to shareholders of record on February 10, 2012.... more

4 Dividend Stocks Under $15 For Our Retirement Portfolio

This is the time of year that we can take a step back from our "Retirement Strategy Portfolio" (read this) and try to find some small "gems" that we can deploy some of our cash reserves into. Fresh "blood" is the lifeline that keeps us alert, balanced, and "in the game" looking for those less expensive shares that could be a stand out. Of course, for our purposes, they also must have a dividend so we can get paid to wait for them to actually stand out. I have 4 stocks that might fit in nicely to our core holdings for retirement and each of them are under $15.00/share. Here Is My Criteria: 1) Under $15.00/share2) Dividend yield of 3.50% or greater3) An ESS rating of "Bullish" or better4) Dividend payout ratios under 50% A few have flown under the radar, and there is even a brand... more

Dividend Champs With Yields As High As 11.2%

Our favorite play is Gel (GEL); it sports a quarterly revenue growth of 44%, a strong quarterly earnings growth rate of 276%, a five-year dividend growth rate of 17.74%, a five-year dividend average of 6.60%, has consecutively increased dividends for eight years in a row, has a positive levered free cash flow rate of $81.6 million, and has increased its dividend from 42.75 cents to 44 cents. It also has a three-year total return of 206% and a five-year total return of 82.8%. As it is MLP, the high payout ratio should not be of concern. We cover this in more detail below. Entergy (ETR) is a good second option; it has an operating cash flow of $2.89 billion, a payout ratio of only 42%, a five-year dividend growth rate of 9.24%, has consecutively increased its dividends for two years, and... more

Becton, Dickinson: A Healthy Dividend Growth Stock On Sale

One of the great long-term benefits that a recession brings is the opportunity to invest in extremely high-quality companies at low valuations. This is especially true of companies that have proven themselves as being highly recession-resistant on an operating basis. In other words, companies whose businesses remain strong even when economic times are difficult, as they have recently been. We believe that Becton, Dickinson & Co. (BDX) represents an opportunity to invest in an extremely high-quality Standard & Poor’s Dividend Aristocrat and a David Fish Dividend Champion that has increased its dividend every year for 40 consecutive years. Classified as a healthcare equipment company, Becton Dickinson operates in three segments: BD Medical, representing approximately... more

20 Dividend Stocks With Strong Sources Of Profitability

Looking for ways to dip deeper into a company's profitability? Here are some ideas you may find interesting. DuPont analyzes return on equity (ROE, or net income/equity) profitability by breaking ROE up into three components: ROE = (Net Profit/Equity) = (Net profit/Sales)*(Sales/Assets)*(Assets/Equity) = (Net Profit margin)*(Asset turnover)*(Leverage ratio) It therefore focuses on companies with the following positive characteristics: Increasing ROE along with, • Decreasing leverage, i.e. decreasing Asset/Equity ratio • Improving asset use efficiency (i.e. increasing Sales/Assets ratio) and improving net profit margin (i.e. increasing Net Income/Sales ratio) Companies with all of these characteristics are experiencing increasing profits due to operations and not to increased... more

4 Dividend Winners That Should Be in the Dow

If you're looking for the best blue-chip stocks in the U.S. market, the logical place to find them is among the Dow Jones Industrials (INDEX: ^DJI) . But as I looked at yesterday, even some Dow stocks don't do the best job of giving investors the income they need right now through dividends.
Paying a healthy, growing dividend is such an important indicator of a stock's overall potential that I believe stocks that can't deliver on the dividend front don't truly deserve a spot among the elite 30 stocks in the Dow average. Fortunately, you can find plenty of good candidates outside the Dow clamoring to gain admittance.... more

7 High Dividend Stocks With Stable Growth Rates

Companies with modest growth may not be the first thing you look for when building a portfolio, unless you are looking at hedging opportunities, but if you are excluding low growth stocks from your investments, you could be missing out. Modest growth companies may not double in price, but their consistency can be a real boon to risk-averse investors looking for a stable investment or who want to use a stock for income. As an added bonus, many of these modest growth companies also pay dividends, further adding to the upside. Using the stock screener at finviz.com, we developed a list of modest growth stocks worth a closer look. The companies on our list are US companies, priced under $50 per share, with market caps over $10 billion and positive estimated EPS Growth next 5 years. Each... more

8 Dividend Monsters Rated Buy Or Better

High-dividend stocks are great investment options; after all, dividends provide an income stream, and dividend stocks usually have capital gains over the long-term. The problem is that, for as many dividend yielding stocks that have strong dividends in addition to strong performance, there are just as many that have poor performance and are only offering the dividends to attract investors, never mind the small fortune lost just to get that 5% or 8% dividend yield. In other words, investors have to be careful when investing in high-dividend stocks. One way to help vet dividend yielding stocks is to look at what the experts say. For instance, looking at stocks that have high dividends but also carry analyst recommendations of "buy" or better is a better strategy than relying on the dividend... more