Choosing the Right Dividend ETF

The stock market hasn’t returned a single red cent in over twelve years, as measured by the S&P 500. Twelve years is a long time to go without earning a return on your investment, particularly if you are close to retirement. With the boom years of the 1980s and 1990s now a distant memory, it is not shocking to see investors losing faith in the cult of capital gains and gravitating instead to dividend-paying stocks and ETFs.... more

Two Big Dividend Earners and One to Avoid

Some investors like to chase high dividend yields. These often prove unsustainable, and in some cases, incur large capital losses. But just because a dividend yield is a more reasonable 3 - 6%, this does not necessarily mean risk is eliminated.The income investor will want to look at payout ratios to see if there is margin to increase in bad markets or if prices pull away from earnings. If not and the PE ratios start climbing, yields may actually drop. Another aspect to consider is the consistency of increasing dividend payouts over time.... more

Texas Instruments: Tablet Potential, Dividends, And Share Buybacks

Texas Instruments (TXN) is a leading provider of analog, embedded, and wireless solutions, along with their calculator segment that makes them more well-known to the general public than many other chip makers. The company, based on the current valuation, seems to provide investors with a combination of a value play and substantial potential upside.... more

Dividend Champions for February

The Dividend Champions spreadsheet and PDF have been updated through 1/31/11 and are available here. Note that all references to Champions mean companies that have paid higher dividends for at least 25 straight years; Contenders have streaks of 10-24 years; Challengers have streaks of 5-9 years. During the past month, I have focused on updating the listings for dividend increases and other announcements. Following is a discussion of my latest efforts.... more

Precious Metals Miners and Dividends: Genuine Change Is in the Air

We have long been critical of the precious metal miners for their rather casual approach to dividends, but there seems to be genuine change in the air. It is necessary and important as the gold miners move to plug the leak in their ratings. It has certainly helped to have the likes of BlackRock rapping the industry on its knuckles. Eldorado Gold (EGO) was the last dividend hold out among senior gold producers. It has now bowed to market pressure and offered shareholders $0.05 per share... more

AGL Investors Should See Solid Returns Along With a Growing Dividend

Summary AGL Resources (AGL) is an energy services holding company involved in regulated and unregulated natural gas distribution, gas storage, and gas marketing. Revenue and income have been flat to down for the last several years as the economy has presented challenges. The stock currently has a dividend yield of 4.88% with a 5-year dividend growth rate of 6% (but slowing in recent years). The company has a pending merger with Nicor (GAS) which seems to be weighing on the valuation. With a P/E of 11.6, the company has a fairly appealing valuation and provides solid passive income with its large dividend, but I expect the stock to continue to have a low valuation for quite some time.... more

Lorillard to Benefit From Reduced Risk of a Menthol Ban: Smooth Yield, Smoking Return

Menthol flavored cigarettes account for nearly 30% of cigarette sales. The smoother taste of menthol has allowed menthol flavored cigarette sales to outgrow the boarder industry. Much of menthol's growth has come from new smokers who are turned on to the flavor. Lorillard (LO), the maker of the menthol-flavored Newports, has enjoyed this growth in the form of 6% revenue growth between fiscal year 2007 and 2008 and another 6% between 2008 and 2009. Catching this kind of revenue growth in this mature industry is impressive, to say the least. It also lead to a 12% increase in earnings per share between 2008 and 2009 fiscal years. Lorillard also enjoys the highest profit margin in the industry at 25.7% for fiscal year 2009.... more

Top-Yielding Stocks (You Might Actually Want to Buy)

The power of dividend investing is pretty well-known these days. Higher-yielding stocks tend to offer higher returns over time than low- or no-yield stocks, according to research from Jeremy Siegel and others. In fact, the 20 best-performing survivor stocks from the original S&P 500 in 1957 are all dividend payers. 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.... more

7 Cheap Financial 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, recent protests abroad, and the possibility of a slowdown in the U.S. market all combine to make investors jittery. The silver lining though 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

7 Cheap Material Stocks Paying Cold, Hard Cash

Despite the broad market being up over 15% over the past six months, there are still many concerns in investors' minds. A potential bubble in emerging markets, recent protests abroad, and the possibility of a slowdown in the U.S. market all combine to make investors jittery. The silver lining though 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