Among 5 Small-Cap Dividend Dynamos, 1 Stands Out

Big-name dividend payers are getting all the attention these days. That's all fine and good, but the more people know about a stock and its dividend, the more likely they are to bid shares up.
That's not necessarily the case with unloved small-cap stocks. Today, I'm going to introduce you to five small companies showing their shareholders the money with outsized dividends. Read to the end and I'll also offer you access to a special free report on 11 of our favorite dividend stocks at The Motley Fool.
First, just the numbersAfter a bit of searching and screening, I came up with five excellent dividend-paying prospects. Below I've listed my five candidates, their yields, and their payout ratios.
Company
Yield
Payout Ratio... more

5 Stocks With Juicy Yields Of 10% And Up

Whether you are looking to establish your first position in income investing or are an experienced income investor, you will want to spend some time reviewing the financials of five very attractive and high yielding stocks. All five of the following stocks are relatively cheap to get into and make reinvestment a more lucrative strategy due to the ability to purchase more shares with each payout. These companies have also established a consistent record of dividend pay outs and maintain high yields, which make them all the more attractive and a hot addition to any income investor's portfolio. Income investing is defined as taking a long-term position in a stock and using the dividends that it pays to reinvest in more shares. The strategy compounds the returns on an initial investment each... more

5 Cheap Dividend Stocks To Buy And Hold Forever

A common strategy for income-orientated investors is purchasing dividend stocks and holding onto them for many years. This is from the ability of certain firms to offer consistent yields and strength. These two factors are the basic philosophy that are used in determining if owning a particular stock over long periods of time will provide substantial rewards. As a result, a number of strategies have been developed around purchasing and holding positions like this to achieve these objectives. The problem with this kind of thinking is that there could be changes in the fundamentals of the company. This is when there is the possibility that the dividend could be reduced (which increases the total amounts of volatility). To determine if Altria (MO), Exxon Mobil (XOM), PepsiCo (PEP) General... more

Washington REIT: Differentiated By Decades Of Durable Dividends

In The Intelligent Investor, by Ben Graham, the legendary author writes, "the defensive investor must confine himself to the shares of important companies with a long record of profitable operations and in strong financial condition." And Graham further explains the test of an intelligent operation as "one of the most persuasive tests of high-quality with an uninterrupted record of dividend payments going back over many years. Graham adds "that a record of continuous dividend payments for the last twenty years or more is an important plus factor in the company's quality rating." Within every industry, there are leaders and laggards and the leaders are typically the companies that have demonstrated the... more

7 Must-Own Dividend Stocks

Stocks with large market caps tend to be household names, a good source of modest growth, and make really strong investments, if you can get them at the right price. The key is to pay attention to how a large cap stock is priced relative to its earnings and its forecast for growth. Many large cap stocks pay dividends as well, further adding to their potential upside and generating stable income. The stocks on this deliver on all three parameters - they are large cap companies with low forward P/E ratios, modest EPS growth, and they pay dividends. A portfolio of these seven stocks will most likely outperform the 10-year Treasuries and has the potential to deliver strong capital gains. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is an application software company with a $235.54 billion market cap. The company... more

4 High-Dividend Stocks In Oversold Territory

2011 has been the year of dividend investors. The old-n-good Dow 10 strategy (where one picks and holds the top 10 dividend stocks in the Dow Jones index) significantly outperformed the market. I think investing in dividend stocks is one of the safest ways to achieve long-term success in the stock markets. Dividend stocks have a tendency to be ignored by investors. However, when we look at the markets over a long-term horizon, a significant portion of the returns are due to the dividends. The dividends can also provide a safety cushion against market downturns. I have a natural tendency to go against the crowd. If a stock is overbought, I rate it as a sell. On the contrary, whenever a stock is oversold, it appears as a short-term deal to me. At least I believe that oversold stocks should... more

5 'Dead Money' Dividend Stocks To Avoid

A common strategy that most investors will use is to identify strong buys based on the company's ability to pay dividends. This is from the thinking that only the strongest firms can afford to pay shareholders a regular dividend. The fact that this requires actual cash from the earnings means that these firms will have more stability and consistent growth. Over the course of time, this could provide investors with an above-average return. To determine if some of the strongest companies in the markets meet this criterion requires examining Alcoa (AA), FedEx (FDX), United Parcel Service (UPS), Lowes (LOW) and PepsiCo (PEP). Alcoa Alcoa yields 1.20% and has a forward price earnings ratio of 10.00. The balance sheet includes $24.26 in revenues, $1.9 billion in cash and $9.37 billion in... more

Great Dividend Payers With Low Debt: 2 Great Choices

With short-term interest rates still sitting at near 0%, more and more investors have begun to seek out companies paying a reasonable dividend yield. But as many have pointed out, including myself, it's not just about the yield. The consistency and growth rate of the dividend are of utmost importance as well. With that in mind, let's take a look at two solid companies with low debt, dividend yields above 4%, and a strong five year dividend growth rate above 8%. American Greetings (AM) Owens & Minor, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides distribution, third-party logistics, and other supply-chain management services to healthcare providers and suppliers of medical and surgical products, as well as distributes medical and surgical supplies to the acute-care market. Its services... more

Alexander’s Declares an Increased Quarterly Dividend of $3.75 per Share (a New Indicated Annual Rate of $15.00)

Alexander’s, Inc. (NYSE: ALX) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared an increased quarterly dividend of $3.75 per share (a new indicated annual rate of $15.00). The former annual rate was $12.00 per share. The increased dividend will be payable on February 21, 2012 to stockholders of record on January 30, 2012.... more

How To Reinvest Dividends: To Each His Own

We all love dividends, and many of us love to reinvest them once we receive them. Reinvesting dividends can increase the size of one's portfolio significantly over the years, but there are debates about how to reinvest these dividends. Should someone reinvest the dividend as soon as receiving it, or should one wait for the stock price to fall in order to reinvest the dividend? What if the stock price is very high by the time the dividend is issued and one wants to wait till the price falls in order to reinvest? I looked at this case, using an example - AT&T (T). Let's say someone bought 100 shares of AT&T in 2002 and held onto those shares till today. Also assume that this person kept reinvesting his dividends as soon as he received them. Looking at the historical dividend rates of AT&T,... more