5 Blue Chip, Must Own Stocks for Dividends and Growth

Due to continued market volatility, low interest rates and weekly declines in stock prices for six of the last seven weeks, many investors are seeking a more defensive posture. With recurring headline risk from Greece, the US national debt ceiling and the US economy, we see the wisdom in putting money to work in those select large cap stocks that provide both current income (with the possibility of continued dividend growth) and prospects for long-term price appreciation. Here are five blue chip companies that meet our criteria:Abbot Laboratories (ABT)Abbot Labs is a multi-faceted health care company targeting pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices and nutrition. Founded in 1888, Abbot has a market cap of $81 billion and annual revenue of 35 billion. Abbot has excellent exposure to... more

5 Rarely Mentioned, Monthly, Dividend-Paying Stocks

Here are five rarely discussed, monthly dividend-paying stocks. Each offers 12-times-a-year income for you, or if reinvested, for your brokerage account. Gas Natural Inc. (EGAS)Gas Natural has an intriguing business model. The stock is an energy supplier and natural gas utility company. EGAS serves over 60,000 customers from Montana to Maine. The company has chosen to identify small and emerging markets to enter, through acquisition and expansion. Annual Dividend Yield: 4.7% Monthly Dividend Payment per Share: 4.5-cents Market Cap: $94-million Stock Price: $11.55 The company has predefined growth goals and is successfully implementing these plans. The company's total annualized rate-of-return was 13.9% over the past 5-years. This compares to the -.5% return of the S&P 500 during the... more

23 High Dividend Stocks Being Targeted by Short Sellers

We like high dividend stocks and consider them as great alternatives to 10-year Treasury bonds. Like Jim Rogers, we are concerned about the Fed’s inflationary monetary policy and want to protect ourselves against inflation. One of the ways of doing this without assuming significant risks is investing in high dividend stocks. High dividend stocks are usually safer but under some circumstances they might be extremely dangerous. Vulnerable high dividend yielding companies may be targeted by short sellers. So high short interest in high dividend stocks may signal danger. We compiled the list of stocks that have at least a 5% dividend yield and a minimum of 5% open short interest (data is sourced from Fidelity). We also require that the short interest has been increasing compared to... more

Five ETFs Paying Surprisingly High Dividends

By now, you probably know about the advantages of using exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) to hop on and off market sector swings. But you might be surprised to learn than many ETFs pay significant dividend yields (next 12-month’s dividends divided by the price you pay for the shares). For instance, more than 100 ETFs are paying at least 3% yields and more than 20 are paying 5% or higher. In fact, four are paying at least 8%. Here’s a rundown on the top five yielding exchange-traded-funds. iShares Mortgage Plus (REM) 9.6% YieldThe iShares NAREIT Mortgage Plus Capped Index Fund tracks an index that, in theory, measures the performance of the residential and commercial real estate, mortgage finance, and savings associations sectors of the U.S. stock market. However, when I checked, five of... more

9 Large-Cap Rallying Stocks With Increasing Dividends

Dividend increases are generally considered a good signal to the market - it shows that management is sufficiently confident in the company that it can afford to pay an increased dividend in the future. It also directly adds value for shareholders. Here we ran a screen on today’s rallying, large-cap stocks for those that have seen a significant dividend increase between this year’s estimate of dividend per share and last year’s dividend. We also controlled for sustainable payout ratios below 35% and dividend yields around 2% or greater.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 Research.Your browser does not support iframes. We also created a... more

The Most Promising Dividends in Big Banks

Yields and growth rates and payout ratios -- oh, my! Before we get to those companies, though, you should understand just why you'd want to own dividend payers. These stocks can contribute a huge chunk of growth to your portfolio in good times and bolster it during market downturns. As my colleague Matt Koppenheffer has noted: "Between 2000 and 2009, the average dividend-adjusted return on stocks with market caps above $5 billion and a trailing yield of 2.5% or better was a whopping 114%. Compare that to a 19% drop for the S&P 500."... more

Dividend Scan: SPRD, MSM, GIS, STEI, IEX, CAC

Amidst the positive movement of the U.S. market, several companies declared their future dividend plans. Some notable dividend payers are discussed here. Shares of Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRD) jumped 11.05 percent, or $1.38, to trade at $13.87 as the company declared a quarterly dividend of 5 cents per American depository share. MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc. (NYSE: MSM) announced a regular cash quarterly dividend of 22 cents per share, payable on July 26, 2011, to shareholders of record on July 12, 2011. Shares gained 1.06 percent, or 71 cents, to trade at $67.60. General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) declared a 9 percent increase in its quarterly dividend to 30.5 cents per share from its previous 28 cents a share. Shares added 1.05 percent, or 39 cents, to trade at... more

16 Core Dividend Stocks For Your Income Portfolio

There are approximately 300 stocks in the world, which have managed to increase dividends for at least ten years in a row. As a dividend growth investor I have analyzed in some detail almost all of these stocks, even though most of them will probably never meet my entry criteria. One reason behind that is valuation. Another, more important reason is that few of these companies have sustainable competitive advantages. As a result, in my articles describing dividend growth investing I tend to focus on a narrow list of quality candidates. The reason behind this is because there are only a handful of quality dividend growth stocks which meet the above characteristics. These companies have a proven track record of dividend increases, fueled by earnings growth which was a direct result of... more

7 High-Yielding Natural Gas Pipeline and Storage MLPs to Consider

A few weeks ago we recommended that investors buy the recent dip in the large cap diversified MLPs. We continue to believe that MLPs represent solid income-generating assets with great industry fundamentals. MLPs generally offer stable yields that are typically higher than those of common stocks. In addition, MLP returns have traditionally had low correlations with stocks and bonds, making them good portfolio diversification assets. This article is specifically focused on the natural gas pipeline and storage MLPs. Misconception About Commodity Sensitivity In general, most MLPs have limited direct commodity sensitivity, since a significant amount of their revenues are derived from fee-based contracts that are largely insensitive to commodity price fluctuations.However, MLPs do have some... more

3 Strong Dividend Stocks for the Everyday Investor

After running a dividend screen through the companies that encompass the S&P 500 (SPY), 169 companies were highlighted that pay higher dividends than the average of their respective sectors. In this commentary I will produce two different lists with analysis on the top 3 companies that should be included in your portfolio. I found it best to sort the data into two categories: First by market cap and second by the spread relative to the sector average. To begin the analysis, the chart below displays the companies paying dividends higher than the industry average, sorted by market capitalization. The list starts with Microsoft (MSFT) paying 2.54% compared with the sector average of 1.38%. IBM and Chervon (CVX) are next on the list of highest dividend yield sorted by company size. While... more