Best Dividend Stocks for 2011 - Q2 Update

I entered into a stock picking competition at the end of 2010, where I had to select four stocks that would do great in 2011. Instead, I selected four great dividend growth stocks, which have excellent long-term prospects. The companies all have strong brands, a diversified mix of products sold globally, and a tendency to raise dividends regularly out of their rising earnings.You could read the reasons why I selected these four companies in this article. The companies include:Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) engages in the research and development, manufacture, and sale of various products in the health care field worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices and Diagnostics. Johnson & Johnson is a member of the elite Dividend Aristocrats index,... more

Best Dividend Stocks For 2011”“ Q2 Update

I entered into a stock picking competition at the end of 2010, where I had to select four stocks that would do great in 2011. Instead, I selected four great dividend growth stocks, which have excellent long-term prospects. The companies all have strong brands, a diversified mix of products sold globally, and a tendency to raise dividends regularly out of their rising earnings. You could read the reasons why I selected these four companies in this article. The companies include: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) engages in the research and development, manufacture, and sale of various products in the health care field worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices and Diagnostics. Johnson & Johnson is a member of the elite dividend... more

Warren Buffett's Favorite High-Dividend Stock Picks

Warren Buffett is one of the best investors of the past 60 years -- probably the best. (I haven’t made up my mind whether Jim Simons , who started investing at a late age, is better than he is). His track record for the first 50 years of his investment career is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, for the past 5-10 years his alpha went down to zero from around 10-12 percent per year. We compiled Buffett's high-dividend stock picks at the end of March. We required a minimum dividend yield of 2.7%; yields were obtained from Yahoo Finance. Here are Buffett's favorite high dividend stock picks: 1. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is one of the major drug manufacturers in the world. GSK recently traded at $43 and has a 4.9% dividend yield. GSK gained 34.3% during the past 12... more

Double Your Dividend Yield: A Covered Call Strategy for Income Investors

The Components of Total Return The total return on a dividend stock has two main components: (1) the dividend yield and (2) the change in stock price. Most of the time both of these components have a positive effect on your total return. However, a significant price decline can literally "wipe out" years of dividends, resulting in a negative total return. The price fluctuation in a dividend stock cannot be ignored. While dividends have accounted for over 40% of the total annual return of the S&P 500 since 1926, over 100% of the returns over the past 10 years were attributed to dividends (meaning the return on the underlying stock was negative). That said, dividend stock investors that would like to enhance the yield on their investments (to help offset the potentially negative... more

Behind the Kimono: Dividend Growth Portfolio Mid-Year Update

Background My Dividend Growth Portfolio (DGP) is a public “demonstration” portfolio that I use to illustrate real-world application of principles and tactics in dividend-growth investing. The portfolio contains real money and actual stock holdings. It is part of my retirement cistern.Articles about the DGP allow those interested to judge whether the principles and decisions make sense and work in the real world. See my four most recent articles in this series:Dividend Growth Portfolio Review: Sherwin Williams Is Out (April 26, 2011) The 5-Year Rule in Dividend Growth Investing (April 15, 2011) Road Map for Managing a Dividend Growth Portfolio (February 23, 2011) Watching Dividends Rise: Putting Together a Focused Dividend-Growth Portfolio (February 1, 2011) Formation of... more

Dividend Champions Smackdown XV

In previous installments of the Smackdown series, I have screened the Dividend Champions list of companies that have paid higher dividends for at least 25 straight years (which can be found here) using factors such as yield, payout ratio, and dividend growth rate, and then did separate screens on Dividend Contenders (10-24 years of higher dividends) and Challengers (5-9 years). Last month, I ran parallel screens focusing on the “longest and strongest” dividend streaks, including one that started with the entire universe of “CCC” companies. This month, I'm using that “entire universe” approach to run not one or two, but three simultaneous screens. On July 4, SA published my article breaking down the CCC companies into three groups: low-, medium-, and high-yield stocks. I... more

7 MLP General Partnership Dividend Ideas

Investors can discover high-growth dividend yields through Master Limited Partnerships [MLP]. Many MLP General Partners [GP] possess Incentive Distribution Rights [IDR]. IDRs provide General Partners an incentive for the MLP Limited Partner [LP] to succeed and beat anticipated quarterly expectations. A MLP LP agrees, with the MLP GP, to a minimum quarterly [MQD] distribution. If the Limited Partner exceeds the MQD, then the MLP GP's Incentive Distribution Rights increase the GP's quarterly income. IDRs provide financial incentives to the General Partner for the Limited Partner to outperform the MQDs. Atlas Energy, L.P. Common Units (ATLS) Business ModelAtlas Pipeline Partners acts as the general partner to Atlas Energy, L.P. Atlas Energy LP was previously known as Atlas Pipeline... more

Stock Dividends: Learning From History

Note: The latest Standard & Poor's earnings spreadsheet (June 30) puts the annualized dividend yield at 1.84% and the indicated rate at 2.00% (The indicated dividend is the estimate for the next four quarters, based on what was paid in the most recent period). The bottom of the 1982 bear market was a major turning point for stock dividends. For more than a century, the market's dividend yield had averaged nearly 5%. But since 1982 the yield has been virtually cut in half, falling as low as 1.1% in 2000 (first chart). A long-term comparison of the annualized rate of real growth for price and dividends also highlights the difference (second chart). Click for a larger image Click for a larger image What happened? Investors shifted their focus from income streams to ... more

These 4 High Yield Brazilian Utility Stocks Could Add Some Power to Your Portfolio

Brazil's economy grew at a rate of 7% last year, partially due to significant exports to China. Even Goldman Sachs is expanding its staffing in Brazil by 20%. Investors looking for growth and stability in Brazilian investments should take a closer look at Brazilian utility stocks, all of which appear on the Brazil stock list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.CPFL Energia S.A. (CPL) is one of the largest companies that provides electric generation and distribution in Brazil. The company is composed of CPFL Brasil, CPFL Pirantininga, CPFL Paulista, CPFL Geracao and SEMESA.The company is headquartered in Campinas, Sao Paulo, and is one of the top 50 largest Brazilian companies in terms of sales. The company has an installed generating capacity of 2,309 megawatts. In total, the consumer group... more

5 Oil Transporters Offering Yields of 5% or Higher

Transportation costs go up in accordance with oil prices, forcing transportation companies to raise prices in order to balance their profit margins. As brent crude is currently around $110, I expect oil transporters to keep raising prices even though things are currently relatively quiet in the Middle East. One could turn this situation into a profitable opportunity. Here is a list of the top 5 oil and gas transporters offering fat dividends. All of the companies have a minimum market cap of $2.8 billion, and a maximum P/E ratio of 20. El Paso Pipeline Partners (EPB): El Paso is planning to split its subsidiary El Paso Exploration & Production (EPEP) by the end of 2011. As of Friday’s close, the Houston-based El Paso had a $6.7 billion market cap. P/E ratio is... more