The Most Promising Dividends in Staffing and Outsourcing

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 Growth Stocks May Be Overrated Investments

Let’s start with the conclusion. I suggest that, based on yield only, the income-oriented investor is probably better-off buying a security with a higher, static dividend than one with dividend-growth. Many prominent Seeking Alpha authors have identified that dividend growth securities provide superior long-term overall returns and I am not debating this. In fact; I follow a few of the dividend-growth supporters, and enjoy their thoughtful articles. This article is about dividend yield – not capital growth (for capital gains), or total return (yield plus capital growth); it is ONLY about dividend yield on the invested amount. Consider this analysis as though one is purchasing a Certificate of Deposit (CD) – for the Canadian readers, this is the equivalent of a Guaranteed... more

Dividends Matter: The Changing Face of Technology

"A penny saved is a penny earned." - Benjamin FranklinSEAGATE TECHNOLOGIES (STX) Seagate Technology PLC (STX) recently announced the establishment of a quarterly cash dividend after halting such payments in 2009. The quarterly payout of $0.18 per share is around a 5% yield. The stock price jumped on the news as Seagate also announced expectations for stronger than expected sales and margins for the rest of the year. It's unclear if the forecasted strength is a near term event caused by supply disruptions in Japan or if the surprise is driven by fundamental demand strength. What is clear is that the strong dividend is a welcome sign.The dividend is a reasonable decision, but among technology stocks, this was nowhere near a guarantee. In 2010, Seagate Technologies was about to be acquired,... more

Investors Put Down Payment on High-Yielding Real Estate ETFs

To say that the current investment landscape is complex would be quite the understatement. Recent weeks have seen environmental, humanitarian and economic crises break out in Japan, with the aftershocks rippling throughout the global economy. Moving across the globe, the Libyan Crisis has dominated headlines for quite some time now, as a series of revolutions spreading across the Middle East came to a head in this volatile nation. Now that key oil production in Libya has come to a standstill, the price of crude is skyrocketing, jumping to over $113 per barrel last week. While equity markets are uncertain, the appeal of fixed income has been dulled by a prolonged stretch of record low interest rates. Though the ECB has finally pushed rates higher, yields throughout the developed world... more

Three Dividend Stocks Raising Dividends, 4 More Expected To Raise Them In April

Three consistent dividend stocks raised distributions over the past week. I define consistent dividend payers as companies which have raised dividends for at least five years in a row. These companies merit further research by dividend investors. However, I only intend to purchase stock in companies which have consistently raised dividends for at least one decade. The companies which announced dividend increases last week include: The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) operates as an off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the United States and internationally. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 26.70% to 19 cents/share. This marked the 16th consecutive annual dividend increase for this dividend achiever. Yield: 1.50% Bank of the Ozarks, Inc. (OZRK) operates as the... more

3 Dividend Stocks for Your Watchlist

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with MyWatchlist.com, our free, personalized stock-tracking service. Here are three dividend stocks for your watchlist. 1. LINN Energy (Nasdaq: LINE ) LINN Energy is an MLP focused on maximizing cash flows from its portfolio of oil and natural gas assets with proved reserves consisting of 36% oil, 48% natural gas, and 16% natural gas liquids. Through an acquisition, Linn recently entered into the Bakken shale area. With a dividend yield of 8.3%, LINN has a comparable yield to competitor Encore Energy Partners LP (NYSE: ENP ) at 8.4% and a larger yield than competitor Legacy Reserves (Nasdaq: LGCY ) at 6.5%. I like LINN Energy better than its competition as its dividend yield is higher and the company trades at a lower price-to-book ratio.... more

A High Yield Dividend Stock Portfolio

Once per month I run a high-yield dividend stock momentum screen and use the results to manage a hypothetical stock portfolio on Scott's Investments. The strategy did relatively well in 2010 and is one I continue to track because of its promise. In recent months I have also done a variation of this strategy with the Dividend Champions list in which I only search stocks that have had a history of raising dividends for 25+ years. The screen looks for high yielding high momentum stocks and last month's list is here... more

4 Special Dividend Stocks With Low PE Ratios and Excellent Track Records

In our recent study we have shown that the average return of high dividend yielding stocks was 13.04% between 1927 and 2009. The dividend stocks beat the overall market by an average of 1.36% per year during this period. We prepared a list of 4 large cap companies with low P/E ratios and high dividend yields. All companies in this list have a market capitalization above $10 billion, P/E ratio lower than 10, and dividend yield of at least 4%. Stock Market Cap Current Price (USD) P/E Yield (%) Dividend (USD) 2008 2009 2010 1. AT&T Inc. (T) 180.36 30.54 9.49 5.5% 1.60 1.64 1.68 2. Dominion Res. (D) 26.01 44.95 8.94 4.1% 1.58 1.75 1.83 3. Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) 41.29 35.93 7.78 5.5% 1.88 1.96 1.96 4.Entergy Corp (ETR) 11.88 66.65 9.99 4.9% ... more

4 Dividend Stocks Showing You the Money

Readers of the Income Investor newsletter can certainly appreciate that kind of thinking. Let's take a closer look at some of the companies that inched their payouts higher this past week. Let's start with PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC ) . The banking giant is jacking up its quarterly dividend by a whopping 250% to $0.35 a share. PNC is also ready to take a share buyback it announced four years ago seriously. The financial services provider still has 24.7 million shares to repurchase from a 25 million share commitment in 2007. It plans to spend $500 million this year on buybacks.... more

10 Dividend Lions Roaring Now

A quick check to your left, then right, and you might have noticed that the stock market has left the recession in the dust. With the S&P 500 doubling in just 23 months, its quickest 100% rise ever, investors are giddy about growth prospects. Perhaps even better news than the growth opportunities is the strong return to dividends. Banks are allowed to increase payouts again and powerhouse firms are ready to return their cash hoards. Can’t you hear it? Today, the dividend lion rears its head and roars. It seems like it would be hard for the most actively traded stock to tip-toe around the strong recovery, but that’s exactly what Citigroup (C... more