Friday, April 12, 2013

Banking Stocks Continue to Improve

Back in late 2011 I decided it was time to invest in banks again. The affects of the mortgage crisis had finally took a turn for the better and banks' financials were improving. TARP funds were being paid back, lending was opening back up, and most importantly dividend payments were increasing again. I wrote about four bank stocks with future dividend potential, and due to the research from that article I decided to take a chance on PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (PNC).

Since then, PNC hasn't rewarded me much in price appreciation, but it has rewarded me in dividend increases. Last year PNC gave investors a 14% raise. This past week it increased its dividend payment again by 10%. The new payout gives PNC a yield around 2.7%.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Phillips 66 Upcoming MLP: How It Will Affect PSX

Phillips 66 (PSX) has been on a tear since splitting from ConocoPhillips (COP) last year. Aside from its run-up in price, it has also raised its dividend for three straight quarters as well as announced plans to spin-off certain assets into a Master Limited Partnership (MLP).

All of this of course was great news, but I wanted to know about the details of the MLP spin-off. What assets were going to be included in the new company? Will existing shareholders receive shares of this new company, or will it benefit through holding stock in PSX? Well PSX recently shed some light on these questions.