Paychex: Strong Brand, Profitable Operations, Generous Dividend Yield

Paychex (PAYX) is a leading provider of payroll, human resource and benefits outsourcing solutions for small and medium- sized businesses. The company offers comprehensive payroll services, including payroll processing, payroll tax administration and employee pay services, including direct deposit, check signing and Readychex. Human Resource Services include 401(k) plan recordkeeping, time and attendance solutions and other administrative services for businesses. A variety of insurance products are also made available through Paychex Insurance Agency. Strong Brand... more

Owens & Minor: A Dividend Stock With Long-Term Growth Prospects

Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Owens & Minor, Inc. (OMI). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis: Company Description: Owens & Minor Inc. is a leading domestic distributor of medical and surgical supplies to the acute care market, a health care supply chain management company, and a direct-to-consumer (DTC) supplier of testing and monitoring supplies for diabetes. Fair Value: I consider four calculations of fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:... more

Dividend Increases Expected for Abbott Laboratories

Abbott (ABT) is a global, broad-based health care company. Abbott’s primary businesses include pharmaceuticals, with key therapeutic areas including immunology, cardiology and infectious diseases; nutritional products for infants, children and adults with special dietary needs; and medical products, including vascular, laboratory and molecular diagnostics, vision care and diabetes. The company markets its products in more than 130 countries. Abbott reported third quarter sales increased a healthy 11.8% to $8.7 billion, driven by global pharmaceutical sales as well as worldwide vascular products sales. During the third quarter, the company expanded its overseas presence with the acquisition of Piramal Healthcare Solutions, one of the biggest generic pharmaceutical suppliers in India.... more

Eight Dividend Growers In the News

Obtaining an edge in investing is important in order to make it in the stock market. One has to find the right strategy that works for them, or otherwise they would not stick with it when times get tough. One strategy that rewards patient investors no matter what the stock market does is called dividend investing. A good and a consistently growing dividend payer that rewards investors with dividends throughout all market conditions, is a must own, since it does not expose its investors to the whims of the market. This also minimizes the risk that investors would have to sell off chunks of their portfolio during adverse market conditions in order to fund their lifestyle. By purchasing the right stock at an attractive valuation, a dividend investor could ignore flash crashes and market... more

High Dividend ETFs Exhibit Strong Trends Amid Rising Stock Markets

High dividend ETFs can be used to build an income producing portfolio that has lower risk, while achieving similar or higher total returns. This was demonstrated in our previous article and has strong academic research backings. We track a list of well known high dividend ETFs, including stocks and bonds. We make the following observations about last week's development: International Real Estate (RWX) now takes the 2nd spot in our following trend table. All domestic and international dividend ETFs continued their up trend, along with the rising stock markets. Preferred Stock ETF (PFF) is the laggard; it not only placed in the bottom spot, but had a down week. This might be due to the lackluster bond markets in the last week. U.S. REIT (IYR) actually had a decreasing trend score,... more

Top 5 Dividend Paying Stocks

Below are the top 5 dividend paying stocks that have had a history of increasing their dividends. The complete list of 18 companies can be found here. This week's list contains some of the biggest blue-chip institutions out there. Topping this our list, for the second time, is the giant food supplier, ConAgra (CAG). The New Low team has issued an Investment Observation on ConAgra that we feel is worth reading.... more

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Second Week of December

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps... more

Just One Stock: A Healthcare-Focused Firm With 2.7% Yield, Good Cash Flow

Several times a week, Seeking Alpha's Jason Aycock asks money managers about their single highest-conviction position - what they would own (or short) if they could choose just one stock or ETF. Zach Liggett is co-founder of Goldeneye Asset Management, a family-focused RIA based in Elk Rapids, Mich. He has more than 10 years of industry experience, including seven years in Japan, four of them with WestLB Securities Pacific. If you could only hold one stock position in your portfolio (long or short), what would it be?... more

Dividend Champions: Smackdown VII

In previous installments of the Smackdown series, I screened the Dividend Champions list of companies that have paid higher dividends for at least 25 straight years (which can be found here) using fundamental factors that are important to dividend-oriented investors, such as yield, dividend growth rate, and price.This time, I decided to focus on something that may be of more importance to young investors, the availability of a No-Fee, company-sponsored DRIP, or Dividend Reinvestment Plan. These plans typically include not only the ability to reinvest dividends, but also the option to invest additional cash, often as little as $25 or $50. This can be a big boost for young investors trying to build a diversified portfolio of high-quality dividend-paying stocks, but the presence of fees can... more

Disney Ups Dividends

Disney (DIS) has been a quiet out-performer for several years. It’s strange to say that about a company that’s so large and well-known, but I don’t think many investors realize how well Disney has done over the last eight years. The stock was an incredible performer through its early life, but beginning in the mid-1990s, Disney started to lag the market. In August 2002, however, Disney regained its mojo.... more