Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Rating A Dividend Income Stock

As I stated in my previous post, I've been focused on analyzing dividend growth stocks as that is what I am allocating at my current age.  But many older dividend investors (probably the majority) are looking for stocks that can provide them with income today.  As I'd hate to alienate a large portion of my potential audience, I decided to come up with an analysis format for dividend income stocks.  This template is similar to my dividend growth analysis, but it focuses more on the safety of the dividend and less on the growth.  I will limit my analysis on stocks that are currently yielding 4% or more and have an established history of paying a dividend.  As in my dividend growth analysis, there are three aspects we will be looking at.  Dividend Safety & Reliability, Dividend Growth, and Fair Value of the stock.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Ka-Ching! Intel Corp. just gave me a 7% raise


On Monday, May 7 Intel Corp. (INTC) said it's increasing its quarterly dividend by 7%. The world's largest chipmaker said shareholders will receive a dividend of 22.5 cents per share every quarter, or 90 cents per share on an annual basis, beginning in the third quarter.

7% is a decent bump, but what makes this special is how frequently INTC has been increasing its dividend.  Typically companies will raise dividends on an annual basis, but INTC has gone above and beyond this norm and has rewarded investors with three payout boosts in the past two years.  And considering INTC's 5 year dividend growth rate is almost 15%, this is likely not the last increase we will see this year.  

Thursday, May 10, 2012

7 Dividend Paying Stocks For A Safe Alternative To CDs


My analysis thus far has been focused mainly on dividend growth stocks. However, many older dividend investors are looking for cash in their pocket right now. Investors who are looking to supplement or even replace their current income are looking for dividend stocks that can give them a 4%+ yield on their investment. They want the increases as well, but they're more concerned with the larger dividend payment now as well as a safe, non-volatile investment. At some point I'll be in their shoes too. I won't be reinvesting my dividends forever, eventually I will be using those dividends as income.  READ MORE

Friday, May 4, 2012

4 Dividend Stalwarts


With the Federal Reserve having kept interest rates at historical lows near 0% for more than three years now, many stocks kick out dividend yields far in excess of what you get in savings accounts, CDs and money market funds.

One thing we can be sure about is the direction interest rates will go next. It has to be up. It's less certain how fast they will move and how long the move will last, but we've seen rates start to move a little bit recently. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries rose from 1.87% at the end of last year to a high of 2.4% last month; it is currently around 2.2%.  READ MORE