General Mills (GIS) is a consumer food giant with numerous well-known brands such as Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Pillsbury, Nature Valley, Old El Paso, and Haagen-Dazs. Despite its impressive product portfolio the company's stock has been very disappointing, losing 10% over the past year while the S&P 500 has returned close to 20%. General Mills [...]
Kinder Morgan (KMI) has had a rough four years, enduring a painful turnaround that included billions in asset sales (to pay down debt) and a 75% dividend cut in late 2015. As a result, income investors have had to endure a -50% total return during a time when the S&P 500 is up 60%. Recently, [...]
Southern Company’s (SO) stock has slumped 8% since August 7, a large decline over such a short period of time for any business, much less a regulated utility that's supposed to be a defensive holding. The stock’s 5.4% dividend yield now sits near its highest level since 2010, causing some investors to wonder if Southern [...]
Despite years of deteriorating conditions in the skilled nursing facility (SNF) industry, Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI), the nation's largest SNF REIT, was able to increase its dividend for 20 consecutive quarters. However, due to rising tenant distress, for 2018 management announced a major turnaround effort and froze the firm's quarterly dividend at its current 66 [...]
Qualcomm (QCOM) has had an eventful two years to say the least. The company's main cash cow, chip licensing for smartphone manufacturers, has faced a customer revolt with both Apple (AAPL) and China's Huawei deciding to not to make royalty payments as they challenge the company in court over what they claim is predatory licensing [...]
Investing in dividend stocks for income can be a sound retirement strategy, but as with all things in finance, there are some important specifics that investors need to be aware of. This guide will look at what income investors need to know about ex-dividend dates, as well as other key dates associated with when and [...]
When it comes to living off passive income in retirement, two of the most popular investments are dividend stocks and bonds. While both types of investments can be highly useful in funding living costs during your golden years, there are important differences between these two asset classes. This guide will look at these differences, both [...]
As you may recall, we announced an all-new version of Simply Safe Dividends was available this summer. Nothing is changing with the original version of the website, but you always have the option of upgrading to the new website for free if you would like to (your membership terms would remain the exact same). [...]
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway outperformed the S&P 500 by 11% per year from 1965 through 2017, generating an overall gain of 2,404,748% compared to the market's total return of 15,508%. It's no wonder why investors closely monitor Warren Buffett's portfolio. He is arguably the greatest investor of all time, and his best investment advice can be seen here. [...]
Buckeye Partners (BPL) has long been a favorite master limited partnership (MLP) among income investors. That's thanks to the firm's impressive track record of steadily growing payouts which up until recently included 22 straight years of annual distribution increases and 32 years of uninterrupted payments. However, the MLP bear market, now in its fourth year, [...]
Shares of Walmart (WMT) surged 10% following the release of the company’s second-quarter earnings report. The big headline is that Walmart’s sales growth was its best in more than a decade. Specifically, Walmart reported 4.5% growth across its U.S. stores that have been open for at least a year, driven by strength in its grocery [...]
Bill Gates is the second wealthiest man on the planet with a net worth in excess of $90 billion. Just like you and me, Bill wants to earn a return on his pile of cash. Of the 17 publicly-traded companies held in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, 13 pay dividends. In this article, [...]
Founded in 1863, MetLife (MET) offers a range of insurance products (life, dental, disability, vision, and accident and health coverages), annuities, employee benefits, and asset management. In total, the company's services are offered in over 50 countries around the world and serve more than 100 million individual and institutional customers. MetLife operates through five business [...]
Founded in 1994, GameStop (GME) is a video game, consumer electronics, and wireless services retailer. The company operates 7,200 stores in 14 countries in North America, Europe, and Australia. GameStop's core business model is selling new and pre-owned video games, as well as accessories like: controllers, gaming headsets, virtual reality products, memory cards. The company [...]
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) were first created by Congress in 1974 to help workers take more control over their retirement savings. In 1978 the 401(k) was created, and the Roth IRA came into existence in 1997. With the decline in traditional pensions these individual retirement accounts have become a critical source of retirement income for [...]