Hormel Foods (HRL): A Beaten-Down Dividend King That’s Worth a Closer Look
Hormel Foods (HRL) is one of the truly elite stocks when it comes to consistent dividend growth and shareholder value creation. Thanks to 51 straight years of dividend increases Hormel is now a dividend king, a group of stocks that have historically been some of the most successful at growing investor income and wealth. Best of all, this highly recession resistant, low risk stock, which has grown its payout by 10.8% annually over the last 20 years, has underperformed the market by nearly 20% over the past year. Let's take a closer look to see why Wall Street has become so negative about Hormel and if now could be a reasonable time for long-term investors to give the stock [...]
GE CEO Jeff Immelt Steps Down: What Dividend Investors Need to Know
General Electric (GE) announced its CEO Jeff Immelt is stepping down on August 1 and will retire from his role as chairman of the board at the end of 2017. Immelt had served as GE's CEO for 16 years and wasn't exactly the most popular executive with investors, to put it nicely. Questionable capital allocation decisions, the dividend cut during the financial crisis, the lack of capital returned to shareholders, bureaucracy, and non-GAAP accounting complexities are all reasons why GE has been one of the most unloved stocks in America. In fact, shares of GE have seen their price decline by more than 30% since Immelt succeeded Jack Welch at the end of 2001. Immelt will be replaced by John [...]
Wal-Mart (WMT): Can This Dividend Aristocrat Thrive in the Age of Amazon?
Some of the best long-term investments are shareholder-friendly companies that consistently reward income investors with decades of dividend growth. These include such legends as dividend aristocrats and dividend kings, which have been raising payouts for decades in all types of economic and interest rate environments. Let's take a look at Wal-Mart (WMT), whose epic 44-year history of consecutive annual dividend increases makes it an aristocrat that is well on its way to achieving king status. That being said, whether or not the stock represents a good choice for investors today, especially those looking to live off dividends during retirement, will depend on how management is able to compete with more nimble rivals such as Amazon in the fast-growing e-commerce space. [...]
McDonald’s (MCD): A Quality Dividend Aristocrat, But What About the Price?
History has shown that dividend growth stocks are one of the best ways for regular investors to grow their wealth and income over time. Among dividend growth blue chips there is a special class of companies, known as dividend aristocrats, which have shown extraordinary dedication to rewarding dividend lovers with decades of uninterrupted annual payout increases. McDonald's is a dividend aristocrat, with an amazing 40 consecutive years of dividend growth that has made it among the most beloved and trusted sources of income for low risk investors; such as retirees living off dividends. However, while McDonald's remains a safe dividend growth choice for income, that doesn't mean that it's necessarily a good idea to buy at this time. [...]
Dividends vs. Total Returns: What Investors Need To Know
Investing in dividend-paying stocks, especially those with high yields, can sometimes cause investors to focus too much on current income at the expense of total return. Total return is one of the most important concepts in finance, and it involves more than just the dividends a company pays out. Let’s take a closer look at how total returns are calculated, why total return is an important metric, and how dividend growth investing can help maximize your chances of generating healthy total returns over time to help you reach your financial goals. What Is Total Return? The total return of a stock is the total amount your investment changes in value, calculated by adding the amount of dividend or interest income [...]
The Importance of Saving and Dividend Investing for Retirement
As 10,000 Baby Boomers per day reach retirement age, the question of how Americans will be able to afford a comfortable lifestyle is among the most important of our age. Over the past several decades, plenty of academic studies have been done looking at several approaches to funding retirement via different investing approaches. Let's take a look at what some of these options are, including how a long-term dividend growth portfolio can help investors achieve true financial independence in retirement. The Major Problem Facing Retirees Financial advisors generally say that people should save 10% to 15% of their income in order to save for retirement. However, as you can see, in recent decades Americans' personal savings rate has fallen [...]
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT): A Beaten-Down, High-Yield REIT Paying Safe Dividends
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are an appealing way for income investors to benefit from rental properties without any of the liquidity or landlord hassles that come with actually owning physical properties. Many REITs are generally far less volatile than the rest of the stock market as well, making certain REITs a reasonable way to help you live off dividends during retirement. Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT) is arguably one of the highest quality retail REITs in America. However, SKT's stock has slumped by nearly 40% since mid-2016 and now offers a 5.2% yield. With a 24-year dividend growth streak and a healthy outlook for continued payout growth, let's see if Tanger Factor Outlet Centers deserves a place [...]
B&G Foods (BGS): A High Yield Stock With Double-Digit Dividend Growth
Food stocks can often make excellent long-term dividend growth investments, thanks to the highly defensive nature of their businesses. After all, everyone has to eat no matter what the economy or interest rates are doing. This is why many well-known food blue chips are among the list of dividend aristocrats and dividend kings, which have track records of 25+ and 50+ years of consecutive annual dividend growth, respectively. Among food stocks, B&G Foods' (BGS) 4.6% yield is one the highest dividends you can find. Even better, the company has grown its dividend at a double-digit pace in recent years and has potential for 7% to 8% annual dividend growth going forward. However, in order to know whether B&G Foods is [...]
American Electric Power Company (AEP): A Safe and Growing Dividend for Retirement Income
Regulated utilities can be an excellent high-yield source of income in retirement. However, thanks to eight years of record low interest rates many of the best high dividend stocks (including utilities) are trading at unappealing valuations that can make for a higher degree of risk than many investors realize. Let's take a look at American Electric Power Company (AEP), which currently offers a 3.3% yield and potential 5% to 6% long-term dividend growth, to see if this high-yield utility has what it takes to make an appropriate investment for low risk investors in this time of historically high market valuations and rising interest rates. Business Description Founded in 1906 in Columbus, OH, American Electric Power Company is one [...]
Iron Mountain (IRM): A Storage REIT Yielding Over 6%
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are some of the most popular high dividend stocks for income investors. Iron Mountain (IRM) is one such business and offers a dividend yield in excess of 6% today. The company has steadily lifted its dividend for over five consecutive years and offers mid-single-digit dividend growth potential going forward, too. Let's take a closer look at Iron Mountain to see if this could be an appealing stock for retired investors living off dividends. Business Description Founded in 1951 in Boston, Massachusetts, Iron Mountain is one of the oldest REITs in America, though it didn't officially register as one until 2014. While the company initially started off as a paper document storage [...]