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 segments: U.S: 42% of adjusted earnings Asia: 21% of adjusted earnings Latin America: 9% of adjusted earnings Europe, Middle East: 5% of adjusted earnings MetLife Holdings: products and businesses that are no longer actively marketed in the U.S., such as certain life insurance products, different annuities, and long-term care insurance: 23% of adjusted earnings. While the company is globally diversified, the U.S. market remains the most important and fastest growing [...]

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 has attempted to pivot from its original business model of reselling video games and video game hardware (still 80% of sales) through physical retail stores, into a rather haphazard focus on the digital content, distribution, and various accessory businesses. GameStop now markets downloadable content such as video games, network points cards, prepaid digital subscription cards. In addition, the company operates e-commerce sites under the GameStop, [...]

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 most Americans. However, while there are several major benefits to these plans, they also have an important stipulation called "required minimum distributions" (RMDs). Let's take a look at what investors need to know about RMDs, and how they will affect your taxes in retirement. What are Required Minimum Distributions? Retirement accounts are designed to incentivize retirement savings by offering significant tax benefits. For example, traditional [...]

High dividend stocks appeal to many investors living off dividends in retirement because their high yields provide generous income. Many of the highest paying dividend stocks offer a high yield in excess of 4%, and some even yield 10% or more. However, not all high yield dividend stocks are safe. Let’s review what high dividend stocks are, where stocks with high dividends can be found in the market, and how to identify which high dividends are risky. At the end of the article, we will take a look at 27 of the best high dividend stocks, providing analysis on each company. Almost all of these high yield stocks offer a dividend yield greater than 4%, have increased their dividends for [...]

Founded in 1885, Johnson Controls International (JCI) is a diversified global industrial conglomerate that provides: heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, industrial refrigeration products, energy management services, security products and systems, fire detection systems, and batteries for a variety of vehicles. The company sells to more than 4 million commercial, industrial, retail, residential, small business, institutional, and governmental customers in over 150 countries. Johnson Controls International operates through two business segments: Building Technologies & Solutions (76% of 2017 sales): the core heating, cooling, and security business. Power Solutions (24% of 2017 sales): focused on the automotive industry, with 76% of sales to the automotive replacement market (the remaining 24% to automotive manufacturers). While it operates around the globe, Johnson Controls remains [...]

Founded in 1888 and formerly known as McGraw Hill Financial, S&P Global (SPGI) provide independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets in 31 countries under several well-known brands including: Standard & Poor’s (S&P), S&P Capital IQ, Platts, and SNL. In 2017, S&P Global rated about $4 trillion in corporate and government debt, and the company operates in three business segments: Ratings: provides credit ratings, research and analytics, information, and benchmarks to investors and debt issuers. S&P Ratings has been providing important information for over 150 years to help investors make better decisions and improve companies’ access to capital markets. Market & Commodity Intelligence: offers multi-asset-class data and research and analytical capabilities. Capital IQ, SNL, and Platts are [...]

With roots tracing back to 1966, Blackstone Mortgage Trust (BXMT) is one of the largest commercial real estate mortgage REITs (mREITs). The firm is externally managed by BXMT Advisors, a subsidiary of Blackstone Group (BX), a world leader in real estate development and investment. BXMT itself has $120 billion in real estate assets under management (AUM), but Blackstone Group is far larger with $450 billion in AUM across its various investment vehicles which are focused on: private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, and bonds. Management is provided by Blackstone Group in exchange for a 1.5% base management fee (on equity) and a 20% cut of earnings growth (above a 7% hurdle rate). Blackstone Mortgage Trust specializes in 100% [...]

Oil prices have soared 60% over the past year, helping drive strong total returns between 20% and 40% for most integrated oil giants such as Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B), British Petroleum (BP), and Chevron (CVX). However, a notable exception has been Exxon Mobil (XOM), whose stock has returned just 5% during this period, significantly underperforming its major peers and the market as a whole. Let’s take a look at why the market is so displeased with Exxon right now, and whether or not dividend investors have cause to be concerned.