Autoliv Renders Superb Dividend

Autoliv Inc. (ALV) raised its quarterly dividend payment by 8% to 43 cents per share for the second quarter of 2011. The company hiked its dividend for the third time in less than a year, reflecting its strong financial position and rapid recovery from the economic recession. The dividend will be payable on June 2, 2011 to shareholders of record on the close of business on May 5, 2011. Last year, Autoliv raised its dividend by 17% to 35 cents per share for the fourth quarter and then by 14% to 40 cents per share for the first quarter of this year. The first quarter dividend will be paid on March 3, 2011 to shareholders of record as on February 3, 2011. The dividend of 43 cents even exceeds the highest dividend of 41 cents per share paid by the company before the financial crisis. The new... more

4 Dividend Stocks Showing You the Money

Dividend checks continue to get fatter in Corporate America, as more companies jack up their distribution rates. 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.... more

Why Every U.S. Corporation Should Have a Dividend Policy

Major American corporations employ a multitude of psychological and scientific analytical tools to plumb the hearts and minds of customers. In short, the quest is to find out what customers want and to give it to them. By contrast, most companies pay very little attention to what their shareholders want, other than price growth. Doing this they falsely assume that their only constituencies are the Wall Street analysts and money gunners who live or die on each quarter's earnings release. They forget about the millions of individual investors and asset managers who could care less if they beat, meet, or miss their quarterly earnings estimates by a few pennies, yet do care about their dividend payout policies. Most companies believe dividend investors occupy the fringe of their stakeholders... more

Why Dividend Stock Hormel Foods Is a Hold for Now

Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis: Company Description: Hormel Foods Corp. company is a leading processor of branded, convenience meat products (primarily pork) for the consumer market.Fair Value: In calculating fair value, I consider the NPV MMA Differential Fair Value along with these four calculations of fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description: Avg. High Yield Price 20-Year DCF Price Avg. P/E Price Graham Number HRL is trading at a premium to all four valuations above. The stock is trading at a 8.9% premium to its calculated fair value of $47.09. HRL did not earn any Stars in this section. Dividend Analytical Data: In this section... more

Looking to Replace Bonds? My List of 20 Dividend 'Over' Achievers

The first stop for many dividend investors is the Dividend Aristocrats List, which highlights large cap, blue chip companies that have increased their dividends every year for at least the last 25 years. But with such difficult entry requirements, the list is short. Only slightly more than 40 companies are members, and once price and value are taken into account, the number of acceptable investments dwindles even further.Enter the Dividend Achievers List, published by Mergent. A much broader list than the Aristocrats, the Achievers list is made up of US companies that have increased the... more

10 Dividend Contenders - Part IV

Here is a current sheet of stocks that increased their dividends from 10 to 24 consecutive years (U.S. Dividend Contenders). This article will be divided into several parts; more than 114 Dividend Contenders will be presented. The list is sorted alphabetically. Stocks with a long dividend history and consecutive increasing dividends are excellent candidates for a dividend income investor. Dividends are the main wealth contributor and they deliver nearly one third of the annual return in the long-run. The average dividend-yield of the Dividend Contenders list amounts to 2.46 percent while the average payout ratio is 0.46. The average P/E ratio is calculated with 34.57, price to sales ratio with 4.13 and price to book ratio with 4.93. Total debt to assets ratio is 15.56 leads to a... more

Sixteen Consistent Dividend Payers Raising Dividends

Dividend investing is one of the many strategies individuals could use in order to generate income in retirement. Most of the quality dividend paying companies which I follow on my blog pursue a policy of stable and growing distributions. These companies are hesitant to cut dividends during recessions or temporary earnings setbacks, which provides retirees with a higher degree of confidence that their income stream would not be jeopardized. The fact that most stocks pay regular quarterly dividend distributions makes it easy for retirees to forecast the level of income they are going to generate in a given period. This stable recurring income stream is essential for budgeting and meeting their recurring expenses in retirement. While stable dividend payments are helpful in generating... more

16 Dividend Stocks for the Long-Term Investor

I am often asked by friends for advice on their next stock purchase and, of course, this results in a barrage of questions on my part: How long do you plan to hold this stock? How much risk are you willing to take on? What sort of... more

7 Shipping and Business Service Stocks Yielding Over 5%

Are you seeking dividend income outside of the telecom and utilities sectors? We screened for companies that provide business services. As expected, many were in the tanker and transportation business and each yields over 5%. Below is an analysis on each company. For some other high-yielding names, consider these 13 emerging market dividend stocks or these 5 dividend ETFs. And as always, please use the names below as a starting point for your own research and due diligence. Frontline (FRO) paid out $2.00 in dividends per share in 2010, which was a 7.8% yield. Consecutive quarterly dividends have been paid out since Q1 2003. Also, quarterly results are expected to come out on February 22. Consensus estimates peg it at - $0.02 per share. EPS is up 75.5% January to September 2010... more

4 Buffett-Owned Stocks With High Net Payout Yield

When looking for dividend stocks, it is important to remember that companies can use cash to benefit shareholders by buying back stock. The net payout yield is useful for this because it combines the dividend yield and share buybacks. I recently looked at Warren Buffett's high yielding stocks, so I thought I would take an extra glance at a few of them with high net payout yields. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Walmart), incorporated in October 1969, operates retail stores. The company operates in three business segments: Walmart U.S., International and Sam’s Club. During the fiscal year ended January 31, 2010 (fiscal 2010), The Walmart U.S. segment accounted for 63.8% of its net sales, and operated retail stores in different formats in the United States, as well as... more