Eastern American Natural Gas Trust: A Beta Negative Dividend Payer

There are lots of things to talk about today, but I want to focus, laser-like, on one extremely small company in the commodity sector. It’s a company that should benefit from higher energy prices as well as any corrections in the broad market. On that subject: right now it’s vital to keep an eye on your short-term holdings. I’m not a trader by any means, but it doesn’t take a technical master to look at the 200-day simple moving average of the Dow Jones Industrial index, and see that the broad market is about as stretched as it’s been - ever.... more

Johnson & Johnson Should Fit Nicely in Most Dividend Portfolios

On Tuesday, we posted the top 100 dividend stocks and one of the more interesting things that we noticed was that 4 of the top 5 stocks were in the same industry: telephone! We will take a deeper look at those companies later, but in the meantime we decided to take a deeper look at a stock that certainly looks like a great part of a passive income portfolio on the surface. So just how does Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) rank as a dividend stock?... more

7 Cheap Consumer Goods Stocks Paying Cold, Hard Cash

Despite the broad market being up more than 15% over the past six months, there are still many concerns in investors' minds. A potential bubble in emerging markets, protests abroad, and the possibility of a slowdown in the U.S. market all combine to make investors jittery. The silver lining is that many quality stocks are still trading on the cheap and have plenty of cash to dish out to shareholders, and this could mean great opportunities for savvy investors.... more

The Most Promising Dividends in Industrial Machinery

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 industrial machinery 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

Dividend Report Card: Home Depot

In this series, we analyze financial metrics to begin answering the following questions about a company's dividend: Over time, has this company steadily increased its payouts? How sustainable is the dividend? Does the company have room to further increase the dividend? The Dividend Report Card wasn't designed as a buy or sell signal but rather as a tool to gauge the health of a company's dividend. For a full explanation of each category, click here for a tutorial.... more

Why Egypt Should Concern Investors; Three Yield Ideas for the Week

As Americans, most of us watch the news from Egypt and, at least, a little pride swells in us as we watch a huge group of people unite to demonstrate collectively against a long standing, repressive dictatorship. But as investors, are the events truly THAT important? If you’re holding the Egyptian ETF (EGPT) or Total (TOT) or GDF Suez (GDFZY.PK), yes, you should be concerned. Oil prices are a bit nervous. But the bigger issue is the Suez Canal. Since 1859, the canal has saved time and money for global ocean freight trade. Today, about 10% of all world ocean cargo passes through Suez. 10% doesn’t sound like much. But, any disruption could really screw things up. Some background on Egypt politically. Since 1952, Egypt has had 4 “presidents”. All four started as career military... more

Suburban Propane: An MLP With Adequate Yield, But Fully Valued for Growth Potential

Suburban Propane Partners LP (SPH - $56) is an overlooked unregulated utility focused on delivering propane to retail customers. Currently SPH services 900,000 residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers, mainly on the East and West coasts, through 300 facilities in 30 states. Suburban is the fourth largest propane distributor. In addition, SPH offers heating oil, natural gas, and electricity on an unregulated basis. Propane comprises 77% of revenues. Structured as a MLP, Suburban offers investors a steadily increasing distribution along with growth via acquisition in a mature utility market. Founded in 1928, SPH expands by acquiring smaller propane distributors in a highly fragmented market. Of note, in 1996, Suburban issued one-time shares to the General Partners in... more

3 Stocks with Below Average Payout Ratios and High Yields

Research, such as Credit Suisse analysts Pankaj N. Patel, Souheang Yao and Heath Barefoot's paper “High Yield, Low Payout”, has indicated that the combination of a high dividend yield and a low payout ratio is better than high yield alone. With that in mind, I screened for stocks in the S&P 1500 index with a payout ratios below the median of 43% and a dividend yield above 4%. Only four stocks met these criteria, of which I excluded Deluxe Corporation due to its high debt and its reduction of its dividend in the last five years.... more

Telecom: Conservative Stocks With Dividends Worth Talking About From Riskier International Markets

International equities and emerging markets seem to be all the rage at the moment. Most advisors and gurus are on record as saying that is the place to be for the next decade as growth in these markets will outpace the more developed nations.That said, though, most investors should know that while faster gains in these markets can come, when they do pull back, the losses can be brutal. Just a few short years ago everyone was talking about how the rest of the world was decoupling from America and would be ok if America sneezed. The proceeding drops in most international markets continued to show that when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. Based on the size of the U.S. economy, I would argue that this will continue to be the case moving forward. Therefore, investors,... more

Four Higher Yield Regional Banks

There are plenty of smaller regional and community banks you’ve probably never heard of - unless you happen to live in the communities they serve.... more