3 Dividend Deals and 3 Dividend Deadbeats

Beyond the historical precedents in favor of dividend, or high-yield, investing, there are also factors in the current market environment that make these stocks especially profitable. Unfortunately for the uninformed investor, there are more than a few dividend deadbeats in sheep’s clothing that will potentially devastate your portfolio. According to Standard & Poor’s, dividends have historically accounted for approximately a third of the total return to equities and have less volatility of returns than price appreciation. Dividend income is taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income, making it a good source of cash as well. Currently, corporate balance sheets are ripe with excess cash but economic conditions are not presenting profitable NPV projects. If this cash is not... more

30 'Overdue' Dividend Increases: Streaks in Doubt?

In compiling the Dividend Champions list (found here) I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, but some companies go longer before boosting their dividends, and this can raise concerns about their streaks of increases. Dividend Doubt Series This is the fourth in a monthly series listing companies whose latest dividend increase might be considered “overdue” because these companies have gone more than a year since their previous increase, a possible sign that the dividend (or at least the streak of increases) is in danger. Some firms regularly go more than a year between increases, so this is only an “early warning” sign that some of them may warrant... more

Crosstex Declares Increase in Quarterly Distribution and Dividend

The Crosstex Energy companies today announced the declaration of the quarterly distribution for Crosstex Energy, L.P. (XTEX) (the Partnership) and the quarterly dividend for Crosstex Energy, Inc. (XTXI) (the Corporation) from the second quarter of 2011:

The quarterly distribution on the Partnership’s common and preferred units will be $0.31 per unit payable August 12 to unitholders of record August 1.
The quarterly dividend on the Corporation’s common stock will be $0.10 per share payable August 12 to stockholders of record August 1.... more

3 Stocks With Rising Dividends and Impressive Dividend Trends Targeted by Institutions

If you are considering sources of dividend income, there are several important considerations to keep in mind. The company’s payout ratio (dividend per share/earnings per share) should be sustainably low, while cash flow should be healthy enough to continue paying the dividend. The dividend yield should be sustainably low as well. We ran a screen on dividend stocks for those that have seen rising dividends per share while also seeing decreases in the payout ratio. Only dividend yields below 7% and payout ratios below 35% were included. We also screened for increases in operating cash flow/revenue, comparing the trailing-twelve-month ratio to the three-year average. Finally, we screened for those stocks that have also been seeing significant net institutional buying over the current... more

Ranking the Dividends of the 'Teenage' Retailers

By this point it is well known that the American teenage unemployment rate is at a drastically high level. At the start of the last few summers (starting here and more recently) we have been made aware of the fact that 25% of teenagers cannot find jobs. This is going to date me, but the classic protocol was: get out of school, work through July and August, somehow spend all of those earnings by October, thus necessitating further employment, and find said further employment. With this process now being much more difficult to perform, (and assuming that those who are working are not being paid as much) we are left to ask how are they spending the money they do have and can retailers who sell teenage apparel sustain their relatively decent dividend yields.In the first holiday season once... more

Citigroup Declares Dividends

The Board of Directors of Citigroup Inc. today declared a quarterly dividend on the company’s common stock of $0.01 per share, payable on August 26, 2011 to stockholders of record on August 1, 2011.... more

You'd Be Crazy to Invest in This!

Then, buy those companies. So which companies am I going to lay down money on, and why am I taking this approach? I'll tell you in a moment, but first, let me explain how I got started on this quest for winning stocks.... more

Nash-Finch Board Announces Quarterly Dividend

Nash-Finch Company (Nasdaq: NAFC), a Minneapolis-based food distributor, announced today that its board of directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 18 cents per share of common stock. The dividend is payable September 2, 2011 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 19, 2011. It is the Company’s 340th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. There are 12,136,507 shares of common stock outstanding.... more

Lindsay Corporation Increases Cash Dividend

Lindsay Corporation (NYSE: LNN), a leading provider of irrigation systems and infrastructure products, announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a 6 percent increase in its regular quarterly cash dividend to $0.09 per share, payable August 31, 2011, to shareholders of record on August 17, 2011. The regular quarterly cash dividend was previously $0.085 per share. The new annual indicated rate is $0.36 per share, up from the previous annual indicated rate of $0.34 per share.... more

NewMarket Corporation Declares Quarterly Dividend

The Board of Directors of NewMarket Corporation (NYSE: NEU) declared a quarterly dividend in the amount of 60 cents per share on the common stock of the Corporation. The dividend is payable October 1, 2011 to NewMarket shareholders of record at the close of business on September 15, 2011.... more