CBS: Special $5 One-Time Dividend Likely?

CBS (CBS) was our top large cap media pick for 2010 and we are making it our top large cap media pick again for 2011 due to the strong margin expansion, free cash flow growth profile, and now share repurchases. The shares could increase another 65% this year to $43 based on our multiple analysis, DCF, and sum-of-the-parts valuation. The media conglomerate is more widely known for its TV Network and TV Stations, which together only comprise slightly above a third of company revenues. CBS actually has a diverse collection of businesses including Radio stations, an outdoor advertising business, a film studio, a publishing business - Simon & Schuster, a thriving Internet business through CNET, CBSSports, and Lastfm, TV production and the resulting syndication business, and pay TV networks... more

Dividend Scan: MPR, GORO, GBCI, MKC, DMF, BANR

As the US market remained a mixed note during the day's trading, several companies declared their future dividend plans. Some notable dividend payers are discussed here. Met-Pro Corporation (NYSE: MPR) announced a quarterly dividend of six cents per share, payable on June 15, 2011 to shareholders of record on June 1, 2011. MPR gained 0.17 percent or $0.02 to $11.95. Gold Resource Corporation (AMEX: GORO) declared a special cash dividend of $0.03 per common share for the month of March, payable on April 22, 2011 to shareholders of record on April 15, 2011. GORO slipped 0.19 percent or $0.05 to $26.50. Glacier Bancorp Inc (Nasdaq: GBCI) announced a quarterly dividend of 13 cents per share, payable on April 21, 2011 to shareholders of record on April 12, 2011. GBCI gained 0.40... more

Highest-Yielding Utilities (You Might Actually Want to Buy)

What's more, reinvesting dividends acts as a "bear-market protector and return accelerator," according to Siegel. The extra shares purchased and accumulated at higher dividend yields during down periods act as a protector in falling markets, and these extra shares rising in value turn into a "return accelerator" when prices rise. As the recent economic crisis illustrated all too well, however, you can't buy just any high-yielding stock. Dividends that get cut or suspended entirely can wreak havoc on a stock price -- and thus, your portfolio.... more

Stock Dividends: Underrated Component of Investment Return

Many investors consider dividends a nice afterthought that boards dribble out to investors as a consolation prize. The reality is that dividends for the post-war decades have been a meaningful component of return. Dividends Count: The table below illustrates distributions as a component of total return for the decades since the ‘50’s. On average, approximately 50% of the average total return has been from dividends. Additionally, the average standard deviation for dividends has been 1.1% versus 6.5% for price appreciation. To further bolster the case for dividends is the fact that at least you get a positive return from dividends either turbo charging your appreciation or mitigating your loss. Red-Headed Stepson: The issue for dividends versus capital gains has been... more

The Nice Price: Some Dividend Stocks Now at Attractive Discounts

As a teenager in the early 1980's, just about every dime of any pocket money I had went towards either record albums (yes… the black… round things that hipsters are trying to bring back. Personally… I like where recorded music has gone. Try to put a double LP in the pocket of your cargo shorts) or cassette tapes. Columbia/CBS records (now part of Sony (SNE)) had a merchandising strategy called “The Nice Price”. The label priced albums from certain artists at attractive discount. Lucky for me, all of the stuff I was into was priced nice: Elvis Costello, The Clash, The Boomtown Rats, great stuff at an affordable price. All of the stuff on Columbia that I didn’t want, like Loverboy or Billy Joel, usually wasn’t discounted. Didn’t matter. Didn’t want 'em. So for a fair... more

7 Highest-Yielding Stocks Going Ex-Dividend in April

It’s that time of year again, earnings season. And with earnings we find profits and with profits come dividends. The announcements have been made and it’s an opportune time for investors to step up and claim their share. But you have to get in before the Ex-Dividend date to grab the dividend, so don’t miss out. Listed below are 7 high-yielding stocks with Ex-Dividend Dates coming up in April: Ex-Dividend Date Ticker Company Dividend Yield 4/4/2011 CYS Cypress Sharpridge Investments Inc. $0.60 18.91% 4/6/2011 KCAP Kohlberg Capital Corporation $0.17 8.50% 4/7/2011 CEL Cellcom Israel Limited $0.86 10.50% 4/7/2011 PGN ... more

John Paulson Is Bullish About These 8 Dividend Stocks

John Paulson is the most successful hedge fund manager of the past four years. He made $4 billion by betting against subprime mortgage investments in 2007 and another $5 billion by betting on gold and the recovery of the economy in 2010. Paulson’s Paulson & Co. manages separate client-focused portfolios, employing merger arbitrage, long/short, and event-driven strategies. Paulson uses fundamental analysis to make his investments. Paulson & Co. had 102 stocks in its 13F portfolio valued at $29.3 billion at the end of December. According to Robert Lenzner’s article in Forbes, John Paulson’s favorite stocks were Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Coca-Cola (KO), Pfizer (PFE), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), SunTrust Banks (STI), and Regions Financial (RF). John Paulson also... more

Rising Star Buy: Seaspan

My Special Situations portfolio is focused on transactional events that create advantageous stock mispricings. Often, special situations create value through their structural complexity or through a lag in financial reporting that typically follows any change. One of those transactional events is a company starting to pay a once-slashed dividend. For my latest buy recommendation, that company is Seaspan (NYSE: SSW ) . The company is poised to massively increase its dividend as it finishes building out its container ship fleet, and it's already shown signs of the dividend increases, with a recent promise to hike the payout by 50% for the year, to $0.75 per share, following last year's climb of 25%. Moreover, the company has promised a "progressive dividend policy," indicating that it... more

Watch This Top-Yielding ETF

Giving up on bondsNot so long ago, if you wanted to get income from your portfolio, you first turned to bonds and other fixed-income investments. Most bonds don't offer great prospects for capital appreciation, but much of the time, the income they generate compensates for their lack of growth potential. As a result, bonds have been favored by conservative investors who are more concerned with personal cash flow than with growing their portfolios. But over the years, interest rates on bonds and similar investments have fallen dramatically. Go to a bank for a CD or buy a Treasury bond, and you'll be lucky to get enough of a yield to match inflation going forward. That has made them much less useful as income-producing investments.... more

Dividend Scan: MSM, SURW, OXM, GGP, PVSA, THO

Amid the positive movement of the US market, several companies declared their future dividend plans. Some notable dividend payers are discussed here. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc (NYSE: MSM) announced a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share, payable on April 26, 2011 to shareholders of record on April 12, 2011. MSM gained 1.36 percent or $0.91 to $67.73. SureWest Communications (Nasdaq: SURW) declared a quarterly cash dividend of eight cents per share, payable on June 15, 2011 to shareholders of record on May 16, 2011. SURW jumped 11.20 percent or $1.37 to $13.60. Oxford Industries Inc (NYSE: OXM) announced an 18 percent increase in its quarterly dividend to 13 cents per share. OXM jumped 25.31 percent or $6.19 to $31.20 after the news. General Growth Properties... more