The Most Promising Dividends in Water Utilities

Dividend payers deserve a berth in any long-term stock portfolio. But seemingly attractive dividend yields are not always as fetching as they may appear. Let's see which companies in the water utility industry offer the most promising dividends. 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.... more

11 Dividend Paying Stocks Benefiting From Rising Commodity Prices

With all of the talk about rising commodity prices, I've spent a lot of time looking for value stocks that can benefit from rising prices. With that in mind, I ran a screen looking for Russell 1000 stocks with above a 2% dividend yield in the materials or oil and gas sector. The following 11 companies made the cut (one stock that could be interesting, Freeport McMoRan (FCX), just missed the cut with a dividend yield of 1.92%): Ticker Company Name Dvd Yld EV / EBITDA P/E (SCCO) SOUTHERN COPPER 5.55 12.31 22.83 (COP) CONOCOPHILLIPS 3.42 5.48 12.99 (OGE) OGE ENERGY CORP 3.17 8.16 15.26 (NUE) NUCOR CORP ... more

CME Group Strong, Dividend Stronger

On Wednesday, leading U.S. futures trading exchange operator, CME Group Inc. (CME) announced a substantial dividend increment of 22% from the prior $1.15 per share, increasing the dividend payout ratio to 35% from 30%. The hiked quarterly cash dividend of $1.40 per share will be paid on March 25, 2011 to the shareholders of record as of March 10, 2011.Over the last few quarters, CME has been posting strong trading volumes, which has also helped in strengthening its cash flow and capital position. Hence, CME is meticulously working to expand its operations and simultaneously return wealth to investors, thereby retaining market confidence. However, the company’s high long-term debt remains a cause for concern. Last month, the company also prepaid a $421 million loan under the three-year... more

The Wheels Are in Motion for These Dividend Stocks

Evidence is mounting that the auto industry is springing back to life. The auto industry worldwide is on the mend, and that signals opportunity for investors to become reacquainted not only with the big vehicle makers, but some of the smaller parts suppliers. The days of the General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) profit machines cranking out generous earnings and dividends may be over. But that doesn't mean that there aren't solid dividend paying stocks in the auto sector. I recently explored an index that tracks the parts suppliers, the Dow Jones U.S. Auto Parts Index. As you can see below, this group of stocks has been on quite a tear since September. One of the six stocks in this index is Gentex (GNTX), a $4.3 billion market cap company that's paying a... more

The Best Dividend Stocks of 2011

In December, I chose three dividend stocks that I thought would be solid performers for 2011. Two months into 2011, after they've reported earnings, I'm taking a look at how they've performed compared to the S&P. The three dividend stocks were Frontier Communications (NYSE: FTR), Altria (NYSE: MO), and Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY). Each pays a huge yield, ranging from Altria's 6.2% to Annaly's 14.6%. Those big yields also mean that you're not likely to see as much capital appreciation as you would with fast dividend growers. But I selected three high dividend payers because big current yielders are more likely to outperform fast dividend growers over a fairly long period of time, as I explain here.... more

4 Dividend Aristocrats for Growth and Income

Years ago, brokerage firms used to recommend a group of stocks called: Income and Appreciation. This article lists 4 stocks with those characteristics. Each is an S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrat with a yield on 2½% - 3½%. Higher yields on stocks makes some investors think that those companies do not take grow... more

23 Stocks With A Vision Of Higher Dividends

To succeed as a dividend growth investor you must identify and purchase stocks with sustainable dividend growth. Inertia is powerful force. Once a company has established a track record of growing its dividend over the decades and developed a shareholder base that expects higher dividends each year, it becomes increasing difficult for management to cut or fail to raise their dividend. No CEO of this type of company wants a dividend cut to occur on his or her watch. Here are a few select companies that have recently followed through on their vision of providing increased cash dividends to their shareholders: Gap Inc. (GPS) operates as a specialty retailing company. February 24th the company increased its quarterly dividend 13% to $0.1125/share. The dividend is payable on or after April... more

Dividend Stock ETFs: Achieving Alpha With Defense

Investors got a wake up call this week after the President's day: for the past two days, S&P has dropped 2.6%. We reviewed dividend stock ETFs performance in the following three equity classes: U.S. Equity: U.S. dividend stock ETFs appeared resilient among the broader market correction. For the past one week, for example, Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM) had the lowest loss: -0.68%, compared with SPY's 2.11% loss. In general, all broad U.S. dividend stock ETFs (SDY, FVD, DVY, VIG) outperformed the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY), showing that in general, dividend ETFs are more defensive during market stress. International Equity: similarly, Powershwares International Dividend Achievers (PID) lost only 0.69%, compared with EFA's 2.07% loss in the last 5 days. Emerging Market Equity:... more

Top Transportation Dividend Stocks

As the economy recovers and in particular manufacturing, transportation stocks should benefit from the increased transport of goods. Furthermore, as global trade increases, sea transportation stocks would also benefit. Transportation stocks with reasonable dividend yields could be good additions to many stock portfolios by providing exposure to improving economic conditions with the added benefit of current income. Analysis The analysis was conducted by screening through stocks within in the sector and limiting the selections to stocks with a greater than 1% dividend yield with a desire to find at least a 2% dividend yield. The initial screen showed that there were 191 stocks in this sector and 80 offered a dividend yield at .1% or higher with... more

Kimberly-Clark: Dividend Stock Analysis

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB), together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and marketing of various health care products worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, K-C Professional & Other, and Health Care. The company is a Dividend Aristocrat which has increased distributions for 38 years in a row.Over the past decade this dividend stock has delivered an annualized total return of 2% to its loyal shareholders.The company has managed to deliver an average increase in EPS of 3.40% per year since 2000. Analysts expect Kimberly-Clark to earn $4.64 per share in 2010 and $5.01 per share in 2011. This would be a nice increase from the $4.52/share the company earned in 2009. The company’s EPS has been aided by the consistent share... more