Alpha Ideas: 9 High Dividend Yield Stocks Experiencing Insider Buying

If you are looking to increase your exposure to dividend paying stocks, this list might provide you with an interesting starting point for your own analysis. To compile this list we look for stocks with the following characteristics: Market cap between $300M to $2B Dividend yield above 3% Experienced significant insider buying over the last six months. We consider insider buying to be significant when the amount of shares bought by these individuals, over the last six months, is greater than 0.5% of the floating shares. 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 last wrote about this screen on April 21.... more

8 Dividend Stocks Raising Their Yield on Cost

Dividend growth stocks are the best kept secret on Wall Street. These companies provide early investors with a growing stream of dividend income, which increases their yields on cost. Few investors recognize the potential of solid companies paying yields of 2%-3% today that consistently grow distributions. Such investments could produce a double digit yield on cost over time to early investors. For example, investors who purchased Lowe's (LOW) shares 15 years ago are generating a 12.60% yield on cost today. Those lucky few who purchased when Lowe's became a Dividend Aristocrat 24 years ago are sitting on an yield on cost of over 100%. Several dividend growth stocks increased distributions last week, which increased yields on cost for its investors. The companies include: Lowe's... more

5 Dividend Stocks in Need of a Market Correction

We have all heard that trees don't grow to the sky, but that seems to be what is happening in this bull market that started back in early 2009. When investors see their portfolio dramatically increase in value, it leaves them with a sense of accomplishment. However, if you are an investor in dividend growth stocks, a higher portfolio may not be in your best interest. Consider the following...Higher Values, Lower YieldsOne of my favorite comments from the unenlightened is, 'How could you buy XYZ stock? Its price has been flat for over 10 years?' If a company has increasing earnings, cash flow and dividends for 10 years, and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the company, I am ecstatic if the stock price is flat. When this occurs the shares purchased today will have a significantly... more

30 High-Dividend Services Stocks

Recently we discussed investing in high dividend mega-cap services stocks. We showed that the risky large-cap services stocks with low dividend yields have performed much better recently. However, we believe investors should be more cautious about the upcoming inflationary environment and invest in defensive stocks with high dividend yields. Although defensive investing doesn’t always give the best returns in bull markets, it provides a better protection in down markets. We believe similar defensive strategy can also be effective for mid-cap services stocks. We compiled a list of 30 services stocks (the sector classifications are sourced from Finviz) that have a market cap between $10B and $20B and ranked them based on their 12-month dividend yields. The top and bottom halves, and... more

Assessing Dividend Plays in the Trash Industry

Companies in the municipal solid waste sector are well-known for their cash-flow generating prowess and relatively stable operating performance. As outlined in this waste industry primer, a trash-taker's residential collection operations are on a service-based model (not-volume based) and help to mitigate cyclical pressures in other economically-sensitive lines of their business (industrial roll-offs, etc.). Further, cell-by-cell landfill development provides additional flexibility with respect to capital outlays, as rubbish handlers can scale back expenditures during troubled economic times, bolstering free cash flow. Such consistent, cash-rich business models have translated into a nice flow of dividends, particularly at the largest two domestic players, Waste Management (WM) and... more

30 High Dividend Mid-Cap Utilities for Defensive Investors

Recently, we argued that large-cap utilities may appear attractive to dividend investors since these stocks have higher dividend yields compared to other sectors in the U.S. The utilities sector generally contains high dividend stocks, and most mid-cap utilities are no exception. We like high dividend stocks because we are concerned about the Fed’s inflationary policies and large budget deficits. We compiled a list of utilities stocks (the sector classifications are sourced from Finviz) that have a market cap between $2B and $7B and ranked them based on their 12-month dividend yields. Here are these 33 stocks and their performances: Dividend Yield YTD Return 52-week Return AmeriGas Partners APU 6.3% -4.39% 26.4%... more

Dividend Champions Smackdown XIV

Dividend Champions Smackdown XIV In previous installments of the Smackdown series, I 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, most recently, the Premium or Discount to the Graham Number. This time, I wanted to focus on the idea of isolating the “longest” and “strongest” dividend streaks, but that left me with two somewhat different ideas about a starting point. So I ended up deciding on a dual approach, which I will label as Smackdown A and Smackdown B in the text that follows: Smackdown A: Strongest of the Longest The first approach begins, as usual, with the Dividend Champions, companies that have paid higher dividends for... more

30 High Yield, Low Beta Stocks, With Attractive Growth Rates

Looking to boost your dividend income? Then this may be an interesting starting point. To construct this list we looked for stocks with the following characteristics: Dividend yield over 3% Beta below 0.75 Five year dividend growth above industry average 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. <p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p> 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 complete analysis of this list's recent performance, click here. Given this information, which of... more

These Dividend Stocks Disappoint

For the long term investor, dividend stocks have significant benefits in terms of providing income and growth potential. We continue to examine different portfolios to see what we can learn and use to further our investment portfolios. We have been looking at the hit parade of dividend stocks. We have already looked at the bottom 10 and we now look at the ten stocks that sit above them and we can compare their performance along with the performance of a dividend ETF portfolio. Jake Lynch of The Street compared the pessimism of PIMCO and Ken Fisher in terms of whether there is a strong future for stocks. He concluded that the case for stocks is compelling, given the low yields offered by bonds and the government's commitment to accelerate economic growth. Among the cheapest stocks in the... more

Getting Defensive With 3 High Yielding Blue Chips

The second day of June arrived with a thud. Major indices had their worst day of the year as a poor ADP report and the overwhelming signs that the economy is dramatically slowing down shook investors. As I have been saying for months, this was going to be a year to sell in May and go away. It is going to be a rough summer, but hopefully one that will be bring some opportunities after a significant pullback. In the meantime, besides cash; I want to be invested in safe blue chip stocks with reasonable valuations, stable revenues and high dividend yields. I also do not want anything that is reliant on commodity prices as I think the end of QE2 and a slowdown in the emerging markets will cause that market to pullback as well. I will not buy any company heavily dependent on goods from China as... more