12 Low-Debt Dividend Stocks Undervalued by Target Price

If you are considering dividend stocks as a source of income, one thing to keep in mind is company debt. High levels of debt can put a wedge between firm value and the value to shareholders by directing cash flows towards high interest payments, and by decreasing financial flexibility. After all, debtholders are always paid before dividends. We ran a screen on low-debt dividend stocks, with most recent quarter total debt to assets below 0.20 and paying a dividend yield above 2%. We also controlled for sustainable payout ratios below 35%. We then screened for those trading at significant discounts relative to target price, possibly indicating undervalued opportunities.Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the top six stocks... more

3 Large-Cap U.S. Railroads: Dividend Growth and Recent Performance

Railway companies are considered conservative investments. In the United States and Canada, rail is primarily used to transport materials, machinery and other heavy goods. Rail is considered an economical method of transporting, and a business that will grow in need over time. Below are the current yields and 2011-to-date performances for the three large-cap American railroads traded in the U.S., along with their 5-year dividend payout performance. These railroads primarily transport basic materials, machinery and other freight within the United States. A few years ago, Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) purchased Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, a large-cap American railroad company in which Berkshire was already invested. After acquiring it, only a handful of large-cap... more

4 Dividend Stocks Hitting New Lows, Undervalued by the Graham Number

Value investors search for stocks that appear underpriced relative to their intrinsic value, which is based off of company metrics such as earnings or book value. One helpful way to find undervalued opportunities is from the “godfather of value investing” himself, Benjamin Graham. Graham created an equation to calculate the maximum fair value for a stock, referred to as the Graham Number. Any stock trading at a significant discount to this number would appear undervalued. The Graham Number only requires two data points: current earnings per share and current book value per share. 
The Graham Number = Square Root of (22.5) x (TTM Earnings per Share) x (MRQ Book Value per Share). 

This equation assumes that a stock is overvalued if P/E is over 15 or P/BV is over 1.5.... more

13 High Dividend MLPs for Dividend Lovers

For many investors, publicly traded Master Limited Partnerships can be valuable tools for diversification. As partnerships, MLPs are subject to a special tax code and avoid federal and state corporate income taxes. Hence, their “distributions” to their investors are partially or entirely tax-deferred. Most MLPs are high yielders and increase their distributions to investors each quarter, achieving a consistent dividend growth for several years. Defensive investors love high dividend yielding stocks that have long records of increasing payments. We believe MLPs are attractive options for conservative investors that seek downside protection. On the other hand, investing in MLPs can be tricky due to the disadvantages of holding them in tax-deferred accounts. Investors should... more

HP Board Declares Regular Dividend

The HP (NYSE: HPQ) board of directors has declared a regular cash dividend of 12 cents per share on the company’s common stock.... more

Schlumberger veröffentlicht Vierteljahresdividende

Der Vorstand von Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) hat heute eine Vierteljahresdividende von USD 0,25 pro im Umlauf befindlicher Stammaktie bekannt gegeben. Die Dividende ist am 3. Oktober 2011 an alle zum Geschäftsschluss am 1. September 2011 eingetragenen Aktieninhaber zahlbar.... more

Samenvatting: Schlumberger kondigt kwartaaldividend af

De Bestuursraad van Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) kondigt een kwartaaldividend af van 0,21 dollar per gewoon aandeel. Het dividend is betaalbaar vanaf 1 oktober aan alle aandeelhouders die op 1 september 2010 de aandelen in hun portefeuille hebben. Schlumberger is 's werelds grootste leverancier van technologie, geïntegreerd projectmanagement en informatiesystemen voor klanten in de internationale olie- en gasindustrie. Het bedrijf heeft ongeveer 79.000 werknemers in dienst, die meer dan 140 nationaliteiten vertegenwoordigen en werken in meer dan 80 landen. In zijn sector levert Schlumberger het meest gevarieerde product- en dienstenaanbod van exploratie tot productie.... more

Owens & Minor Announces Cash Dividend for Third Quarter 2011

Owens & Minor, Inc. (NYSE: OMI) today announced that its board of directors has approved the payment of the third-quarter 2011 cash dividend in the amount of $0.20 per share, a 13% increase over the prior year’s third-quarter dividend. The cash dividend is payable on September 30, 2011, to shareholders of record as of September 15, 2011.... more

Dividends Will Continue to Roll Higher

Dividends have rocked and rolled over the past five and half years. The question is where will they be dancing from here? The chart shows dividends paid by S&P 500 companies on a rolling 12 month basis since December of 2005. For the first three years of this period, dividends rolled higher, peaking near $31. Beginning in August of 2008, dividends fell like a rock, a move that more than wiped out the gains since 2005. Since the early part of 2010, dividends have once again reversed course and are now rolling back toward their old highs. Can this roll continue, or are there more rocks in our future? Over the last 12 months, S&P 500 companies have paid roughly $25, still far below the nearly $31 all-time high they recorded at the peak in 2008. However, the red dashes at the far right of the... more

7 Rallying Dividend Stocks With Strong Cash Coverage

Even if a company is paying an attractive dividend yield, there is no guarantee that that dividend will be continued in the future. It is up to potential investors to analyze whether the company’s cash flows can continue to support the dividend yield.We ran a screen on dividend stocks (paying yields above 2% and sustainable payout ratios below 35%) rallying above their 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day moving averages. We searched this universe for those that have trailing-twelve-month free cash flow per share at least five times greater than dividend per share, indicating comfortable coverage of the dividend. 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... more