HDV: Yet Another Dividend ETF Arrives

BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) Thursday launched the iShares High Dividend Equity Fund (HDV). The new ETF provides exposure to high quality income-producing U.S. securities based on the Morningstar Dividend Yield Focus Index. The underlying index seeks to identify companies providing relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis. Morningstar’s proprietary methodology screens for superior company quality and financial health. The process uses Morningstar’s Economic Moat rating system, which describes the sustainability of a company’s future economic profits. It also uses the Morningstar Distance to Default measure, which quantifies the likelihood that a company may encounter financial distress. Unlike many other dividend ETFs that have a high exposure to Financials, Morningstar’s... more

HDV: Another Dividend ETF Arrives

Last Thursay, BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) launched the iShares High Dividend Equity Fund (HDV). The new ETF provides exposure to high quality income-producing U.S. securities based on the Morningstar Dividend Yield Focus Index. The underlying index seeks to identify companies providing relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis. Morningstar’s proprietary methodology screens for superior company quality and financial health. The process uses Morningstar’s Economic Moat rating system, which describes the sustainability of a company’s future economic profits. It also uses the Morningstar Distance to Default measure, which quantifies the likelihood that a company may encounter financial distress. Unlike many other dividend ETFs that have a high exposure to Financials,... more

The Challenges of Selecting High Yield Latin American Dividend Stocks, Part 2

Several Latin American ADRs offer quite high dividend yields; however, the stability and consistency of that yield varies significantly over time. In this follow-up to my previous article, I look closely at the dividend yields and performance of four additional ADRs. I found the following ADRs to offer substantial current dividend yields: Latin American Dividend ADRs Ticker Name Market Capitalization ($ Millions) Dividend Yield Country Industry PVD Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones-Provida, S.A. 1,718 6.9% Chile Financial YPF YPF Sociedad Anonima 17,610 6.4% Argentina Oil & Gas APSA Alto Palermo S.A. 450 6.3% Argentina Real Estate ... more

14 Tech Companies With 1+% Dividend Yields, Low Debt, and Attractive Valuations

Using the Screener.co stock screener, and configuring the Markets to only include U.S. traded companies (Nasdaq, American Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, and Over the Counter), we are able to construct a screen for dividend-paying technology companies that meet the following criteria: Field op Criteria Sector = "Technology" Current Dividend Yield-Common Stock Primary Issue-LTM > 0.01 Current year dividend per share estimate < Current year consensus EPS estimate Current EV/EBITDA <= 7 Total Debt(I) < 2 * EBITDA(A) In addition to the conditions mentioned in the article title, we also require that forward EPS > DPS. When looking for operating companies that pay dividends, I tend to avoid firms that have dividends greater than their... more

Best 8 Dividend Stocks on the S&P 500

With 500 stocks to choose from, picking the top 8 Dividend Stocks might seem like a tall task. In reality the task can be made relatively easy by instituting a variety of important and stringent qualifications. Obviously paying dividends is a requirement, but income investors are looking for much more than that. For example, a long history of paying dividends and a low payout ratio signal that not only will companies pay dividends in the future, but also that they are willing and able to increase the upcoming payouts.Therefore, only “dividend champions,” stocks which have increased their dividend for at least 25 consecutive years, have been included. Additionally each stock has a payout ratio of 65% or less, signaling sustainability. Finally, current yield is reviewed; however a... more

Top 6 Oil and Gas Companies Paying Excellent Dividends

Oil & gas drilling is one of the most promising industries in the energy sector. As the price of oil has gone berserk, these companies are now more attractive to investors. Therefore, we decided to look for the top six companies paying outstanding dividends and a maximum P/E ratio of 20. All the companies below offered a minimum 5% dividend yield in 2010. Data is derived from finviz. While there are hundreds of oil companies listed on the NYSE, only the following large cap oil companies fit this criteria:Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (CRT): Operating as an express trust in the U.S., Cross Timbers holds 90% net profits interest in different royalty and overriding royalty interest properties in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. The company has a market capitalization of $283.2 million with a... more

New iShares High Dividend ETF Offers High Quality Yield

Yield hungry investors now have a daunting number of choices when it comes to high yield equity exchange traded funds. You can now add one more to the list. iShares, a subsidiary of BlackRock (BLK) and one of the largest ETP providers, debuted the iShares High Dividend Equity Fund (HDV) on March 29th. Despite the number of ETP choices available to dividend investors, this fund may have some appealing aspects. The high yield dividend equity fund seeks to track the performance of an index called the Morningstar Dividend Yield Focus Index. The fund invests primarily in U.S. securities that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis. The biggest difference with this ETF, compared to some others, is that HDV focuses on high quality companies. Companies are screened for... more

Dividend Champions Smackdown XII: Price/Sales Edition

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 PEG ratio. This time, I decided to start with the Price/Sales ratio, which compares a stock's price to its sales on a per-share basis. This ratio is a basic measure of how the stock market is valuing a company's revenues, which have to maintain a certain strength and momentum in order for the company to continue to be profitable (and to pay dividends). The lower the ratio is, the better. So I screened as follows: Step 1: Sort the companies by Price/Sales ratio (column X), from low to high. There were 22 Champions with a ratio of less... more

3 Highest Dividend Paying Stocks Have Even Higher Options Yields

The Dividend Aristocrats are often mentioned when researching dividend paying stocks, as being some of the most dependable dividend stocks, in terms of steady dividend growth. This week, we looked at the 3 highest dividend paying stocks in this group: Century Link, (CTL), Pitney Bowes, (PBI), and Eli Lilly, (LLY), all of whom are listed in our High Dividend Stocks by Sector Tables. All of these firms should be able to maintain their dividend payouts, as they've done for the past 25 years - CTL has a dividend payout ratio of 93%, LLY has one of just 45%, and PBI has more than enough cash flow to continue it. *(See below). CTL and Qwest Communications today completed their merger, creating the nation's third largest telecommunications company in the United States. The combined company's... more

Dividend Scan: SHLM, MW, WSO, EP, AMN, HPT, REXI, MSM

Amid the positive movement of the US market, several companies declared their future dividend plans. Some notable dividend payers are discussed here. A Schulman Inc (Nasdaq: SHLM) declared a regular cash dividend of $0.155 per common share, payable on May 2, 2011 to shareholders of record on April 20, 2011. SHLM gained 0.65 percent or $0.16 to $24.88. Men's Wearhouse Inc (NYSE: MW) announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.12 per share, payable on June 24, 2011 to shareholders of record on June 14, 2011. MW added 2.11 percent or $0.57 to $27.63. Watsco Inc (NYSE: WSO) declared a regular cash dividend of 57 cents per share, payable on April 29, 2011 to shareholders of record on April 15, 2011. WSO was up 1.85 percent or $1.29 to $71. El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP) announced a... more