ITC Holdings (ITC) Declares $0.335 Quarterly Dividend; 2.2% Yield

ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on ITC common stock of $0.335 per common share, $1.34 annualized. The dividend is payable on December 15, 2010, to shareholders of record on December 1, 2010. The ex-dividend date is November 29, 2010. Yield on the dividend is 2.2%.... more

Marten Transport (MRTN) Declares $0.02 Quarterly Dividend; 0.4% Yield

Marten Transport, Ltd. (Nasdaq: MRTN) announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.02 per common share, $0.08 annualized. The dividend will be payable on December 10, 2010 to stockholders of record at the close of business on November 29, 2010. The ex-dividend date is November 25, 2010. Yield on the dividend is 0.4%.... more

Three Unsung, High-Yield Dividend Aristocrats

If you're looking for steady dividend paying stocks with a long history of paying dividends, the S&P Dividend Aristocrats is a good place to start your research. These stocks have all increased their dividends each year for the past 25 years. This week we screened the S&P Dividend Aristocrats for dividend paying stocks with low next-year PEG ratios, strong next year EPS estimates, low debt loads, attractive financial & management metrics, and low to moderate price gains over the past year. We came up with 3 prospects: Aflac (AFL), Leggett & Platt (LEG), and Lowe's (LOW). Lowe's and Leggett & Platt are plays on the consumer, via the home improvement and home furnishing categories, while Aflac sells supplemental accidental and health insurance, mainly through employers. With a 5%-plus... more

Why Dividend Stocks Are Preferable Over Dividend ETFs

In 1993, State Street Global Advisors launched the first exchange-traded fund (ETF). Now there are literally hundreds of ETFs out there covering sectors, countries, popular indexes and various strategies, including income investing. A frequent question that I get is ‘Why do you invest in individual dividend stocks instead of income-based ETFs?’ On the surface this seems like a reasonable question since most ETFs are indexed, tax efficient, easily traded, passive and have low expense ratios. However, as we look beyond the ETFs luster, there are several significant reasons why many dividend investors prefer owning individual stocks.I. Tax Efficiency ETFs tax efficiency is only in comparison to traditional mutual funds. Consider, when you redeem your mutual fund shares and the fund... more

Lorillard (LO) Declares $0.125 Quarterly Dividend; 5.2% Yield

Lorillard, Inc. (NYSE: LO) declared a quarterly dividend on its common stock, in the amount of $1.125 per share, $4.50 annualized. The dividend is payable December 13, 2010 to stockholders of record as of December 1, 2010. The ex-dividend date is November 29, 2010. Yield on the dividend is 5.2%.... more

Minerals Tech (MTX) Declares $0.05 Quarterly Dividend; 0.3% Yield

Minerals Technologies Inc. (NYSE: MTX) today declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share on the company’s common stock, $0.20 annualized. The dividend is payable on December 16, 2010 to stockholders of record on December 1, 2010. The ex-dividend date is November 29, 2010. Yield on the dividend is 0.3%.... more

Johnson Controls (JCI) Increased its Quarterly Dividend 23% to $0.16; 1.7% Yield

Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) announced Wednesday that its Board of Directors has increased its quarterly dividend 23% to $0.16, $0.64 annualized. The dividend is payable January 4, 2011 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 10, 2010. The yield is 1.7%... more

First Financial (THFF) Declares $0.46 Semi-Annual Dividend; 3% Yield

First Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: THFF) have declared a semi-annual dividend of 46 cents per share, $0.92 annualized. The dividend is payable on January 3, 2011, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 15, 2010. The ex-dividend date is December 13, 2010. Yield on the dividend is 3%.... more

An Interesting Way to Select Dividend Stocks

Original posted at Portfolioist.com. I just ran across an article that Kapitall has on Seeking Alpha that posits an interesting and, I believe, useful way to screen for dividend paying stocks. The basic idea is to look for high-yield stocks that also have a high level of open interest in call options vs. put options.... more

How Much Money Do You Really Need to Retire With Dividend Stocks?

Many investors are being told that in order to retire, one needs to accumulate a minimum nest egg of $1,000,000. Some advisers do recommend that even one million dollars might not be enough to ensure a comfortable retirement, given higher life expectancies or variability of investment returns. This is discouraging many investors, who are starting to believe that they could be working forever. Instead of focusing on the amount of money one needs to accumulate however, I think that a much better way should be to focus on the income from your investments.After all, a million dollar investment in your home would most likely lead to thousands of dollars in annual property taxes, but no income. Thus, having even a million dollars invested in the wrong asset might not be enough to ensure a... more