5 Magnificent Material Plays With Tempting Yields As High As 10.5%

The markets are going to remain volatile for many months to come and given that investors in general hate volatility; it is easy to understand why so many have been gravitating towards investments that offer steady dividend payments. We are going to look at five stocks in the basic material's sector that we think dividend investors would find attractive. Our two favourites are SeaDrill Limited (SDRL) and Linn Energy LLC (LINE... more

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend on its Common Stock

Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB) today declared a fourth quarter 2011 cash dividend on its common shares of $0.08. The cash dividend is payable on Friday, January 20, 2012 to shareholders of record as of Friday, December 30, 2011.... more

Energy Transfer Partners' Dividend X-ray

The company we're looking at today is Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE: ETP) , which yields 7.9%. IndustryEnergy Transfer Partners includes pipelines and other midstream operations. The company, like peer Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMP) , has been a steady performer as its operations are largely unaffected by the movements of oil and natural gas prices. The company also has a retail propane operation, similar to Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE: SPH) .... more

9 High Dividend Yield Stocks Being Snapped Up By Hedge Funds

If you like to follow the buying trends of “smart money” investors such as hedge funds, here are some ideas to get you started. We ran a screen on stocks paying big dividend yields above 3% and sustainable payout ratios below 50% for those seeing the most significant net institutional purchases over the current quarter, expressed as a percent of share float. Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the top six stocks mentioned below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.‬ We also created a price-weighted index of the stocks mentioned below, and monitored the performance of the list relative to the S&P 500 index over the last month. To access a complete analysis of this list's recent... more

18 S&P 500 Dividend Stocks With Strong Corporate Governance

Companies are valued at more than just their buildings and inventories – management teams also go into company valuations, and how well a company is run has big implications to its stock performance. One way to evaluate this is by looking at the corporate governance policies of the company, such as its board composition and shareholder rights. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) gives ratings for four areas of corporate governance, on risks related to: the board, the audit committee, the compensation committee, and shareholder rights. We ran a screen on the S&P 500 (SPY) for stocks paying dividend yields above 2% that also received “low risk” ratings on all four corporate governance categories from ISS. ‪Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst... more

ING Prime Rate Trust (NYSE: PPR) Dividend Declaration

The following dividend information is for the 31 days of December for ING Prime Rate Trust (CUSIP No. 44977W 10 6):
DIVIDEND: $0.0290 Declaration Date: 12/20/11 Ex. Date: 12/28/11 Record Date: 12/30/11 Payable Date: 01/12/12... more

6 Greatly Undervalued Dividend Stocks Buffett Could Buy Next

Today, we’re looking for 6 dividend stocks that could match favorably with Warren Buffett’s investment philosophy exhibited through his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B). A quick review of Buffett’s simple philosophy is in order. Buffett is a value investor. His strategy is an adaptation of Benjamin Graham’s approach. In the simplest terms, Buffett chooses great companies trading at less than their intrinsic value. He insists on a margin of safety relative to that intrinsic value. In this article, I undercover values that warrant further investigation through your own due diligence. I provide the valuation on a discounted cash flow basis using a normalized 10% cost of equity. On the surface, these stocks fit the Buffett evaluation model described above however further... more

5 Dividend Income Stocks Investors Are Buying Like Crazy

Due to the stock market’s recent rounds of high volatility, many stock analysts have been advising investors to put their money in safe high-dividend stocks. With that thought in mind I thought that it might be interesting to review popular stocks, with high-dividend yields. This article will evaluate five stocks with an average daily trading volume of more than 2 million shares and dividend yields in excess of 4%. Perhaps one or more of these stocks, might be a good fit for your portfolio. Use this article as a starting point for your own due diligence. Verizon Communications (VZ) Verizon has a market cap of $108.32 billion with a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38. The stock has traded in a 52-week range between $32.28 and $38.95. The stock is currently trading near the top of its... more

The Most Promising Dividends in Industrial Machinery

Yields and growth rates and payout ratios, oh my! Before we get to those companies, though, you should understand just why you'd want to own dividend payers. These stocks can contribute a huge chunk of growth to your portfolio in good times, and bolster it during market downturns. As my colleague Matt Koppenheffer has noted: "Between 2000 and 2009, the average dividend-adjusted return on stocks with market caps above $5 billion and a trailing yield of 2.5% or better was a whopping 114%. Compare that to a 19% drop for the S&P 500."... more

4 Promising Dividend Stocks in Oil and Gas

Investors are caught in between, especially when it comes to oil stocks. On one end of the spectrum, oil companies are taking advantage of rising energy prices and, hence, increasing production, while on the other end, a rerun of last August's bear market is capable of unnerving even savvy investors. In short, the unpredictability is too big a factor to ignore. The way out So where does an investor stand who wants to invest in oil without taking too many risks? The answer lies in dividend stocks. A steady stream of income is a time-tested way of getting the better of volatility in the markets and uncertainty in returns. Here are four dividend stocks you should be looking into and that I believe should help you beat the markets in the long run:... more