McMoRan Exploration Co. Declares Quarterly Cash Dividends on Preferred Stocks

McMoRan Exploration Co. (NYSE: MMR) today declared the following cash dividends payable on August 15, 2011 to holders of record as of August 1, 2011 on its preferred stocks:... more

JPMorgan Chase Declares Preferred Stock Dividend

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) declared a quarterly dividend on the outstanding shares of the corporation’s 8.625% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series J, in the amount of $215.6250 per share (which is equivalent to $0.5390625 per related Depositary Share). The dividend is payable September 1, 2011, to stockholders of record at the close of business on August 2, 2011.... more

Dividend Match-Up: Aflac Vs. Hershey

After publishing the top 100 dividend stocks two weeks ago, we detailed a new method that would be added to our dividend stock analysis: Does this company fit in the mold of a sustainable dividend portfolio? Last week we detailed some methods of filtering and came up with a list of 30 or so candidates. Today, we decided to take a deeper look into two of those names: Aflac (AFL) and Hershey (HSY... more

5 Bullish Momentum Dividend Stocks Being Bought up By the Smart Money

The “golden cross” is a technical momentum indicator in which the 50-day moving average has crossed above the 200-day moving average. It is known to indicate upward momentum. We used this indicator to screen for stocks with bullish momentum from the universe of dividend stocks. On top of that, we also searched for those seeing significant net institutional buying over the current quarter. Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research. Your browser does not support iframes. 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... more

The Extraordinary Power of Dividends: ExxonMobil Edition

"Dividends?" he asked. "I'm trying to make my clients wealthy. You don't do that waiting for tiny checks in the mailbox every quarter." Even then, I had enough horse sense to know he was wrong. Paying attention to dividends is exactly how you become wealthy over time. Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel made a wonderful discovery in his book The Future for Investors. The greatest long-term returns typically don't come from the most innovative companies, or even companies with the highest earnings growth. They come from companies that happen to crank out dividends year after year. Simply put, since the 1950s, "the portfolios with higher dividend yields offered investors higher returns." Market commentary regularly centers on price gyrations, yet dividends historically have accounted for... more

10 Dividend Stocks Sharing the Fruits of Increased Dividends

Just as picking fruit from a mango tree does not harm it, living off dividends does not damage the investment's ability to produce future results. A mango tree's life will easily span an entire generation. Similarly, well-chosen dividend investments will not only provide income in retirement, but can be passed to your children who can continue to reap the benefits. Below are several select companies that recently decided to reward their shareholders with fruits of their labor in the form of increased cash dividends:
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Chubb (CB) Dividend Stock Analysis 2011

The Chubb Corporation (CB), through its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance to businesses and individuals. Chubb is a Dividend Aristocrat which has paid uninterrupted dividends on its common stock since 1902 and increased payments to common shareholders every year for 46 years. The most recent dividend increase was in 2010, when the Board of Directors approved a 5.40% increase to 39 cents/share. The largest competitors of Cincinnati Financial include Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B). Cincinnati Financial (CINF) and Travelers Corp (TRV). Over the past decade this dividend growth stock has delivered an annualized total return of 7.40% to its loyal shareholders. The company has managed to deliver an increase in EPS of 10.90% per year since 2005. Analysts expect Chubb to... more

The Extraordinary Power of Dividends: Altria Edition

I took my first investing class as a teenager, and one moment stands out in my memory. A fellow student asked the instructor, a stockbroker, about dividends. "Dividends?" he asked. "I'm trying to make my clients wealthy. You don't do that waiting for tiny checks in the mailbox every quarter." Even then, I had enough horse sense to know he was wrong. Paying attention to dividends is exactly how you become wealthy over time. Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel made a wonderful discovery in his book The Future for Investors. The greatest long-term returns typically don't come from the most innovative companies, or even companies with the highest earnings growth. They come from companies that happen to crank out dividends year after year. Simply put, since the 1950s, "the portfolios with... more

The Extraordinary Power of Dividends: AT&T Edition

"Dividends?" he asked. "I'm trying to make my clients wealthy. You don't do that waiting for tiny checks in the mailbox every quarter." Even then, I had enough horse sense to know he was wrong. Paying attention to dividends is exactly how you become wealthy over time.... more

MVC Capital Declares Third Quarter Dividend of $0.12 Per Share

MVC Capital, Inc. (NYSE: MVC), a publicly traded business development company that makes private debt and equity investments, has announced that its board of directors has declared a dividend of $0.12 per share, or a total of approximately $2.9 million, to be distributed to shareholders for the third quarter of fiscal 2011. The dividend is payable on July 29, 2011 to shareholders of record on July 25, 2011. This distribution represents the twenty-fifth consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the Fund since implementing a dividend policy in July of 2005. These quarterly dividends have resulted in approximately $71 million in distributions to the Fund’s shareholders.... more