Focus on Dividends

  Upgrades:   Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The firm presently has a $128.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their previous price objective of $112.00. Evercore ISI's price target indicates a potential upside of 9.48% from the company's previous close. A number of other research firms also recently commented on SPG. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $74.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 11th. Zacks Investment Research raised sh

  Quality pharmaceutical stocks come with a steady business that offers a nice yield   Pharmaceutical stocks have been on investors’ radar more than usual in the past year as the healthcare sector grapples with the not-so-novel coronavirus. While the world is looking to reopen, the headaches caused by Covid-19 are still present.   While restaurants are reopening and parts of the world are recovering, healthcare is still disrupted plagued by raw material shortages and supply chain hiccups.   Some pharmaceutical stocks have found themselves in the spotlight, playing an active role in the fight against Covid-19. Others have been cast aside, as patients forego elective procedures and as other delays create uncertainty.   However, there lies opportunities within the pharma space. Many of these businesses are quite profitable and their stocks trade at reasonable valuations. Further, many of these companies pay out handsome dividend yields.     So without further ado

  In this article, we discussed the importance of dividend stocks for Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio and examined the 12 best value dividend stocks to buy now according to Warren Buffett.   The legendry value investor Warren Buffett’s investment holding Berkshire Hathaway expects to collect close to $4 billion in dividends this year. Buffett’s stock portfolio is composed of 49 stocks at the end of the latest quarter and 31 of them pay a dividend. What’s more, Berkshire's nine of the top ten stock positions, which accounted for 87% of the overall 13F portfolio, offer hefty dividends. Indeed, the dividend potential of several of Buffett's stock holdings will increase strongly this year due to economic reopening and easing social distancing policies. Further bolstering dividend returns for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) this year is its big stake in dividend-paying financial and energy companies that are leading the S&P 500 gains. The growth in energy, consumer

  Blue chips with rock-solid financials have been among the most secure holdings of the COVID pandemic. They should be just fine on the way out, too.   We said around this time last year that blue chips with unimpeachable financials would be the kind of stocks that could come out of the pandemic smelling the most like roses.   That indeed came to pass, but now that the economy is on recovery road, don't think it's time to abandon these kinds of sturdy blue-chip stocks. After all, brawny balance sheets and responsible fiscal management never really go out of style.   We enlisted the help of Value Line to explore a universe of blue chips that earned their A++ rating for financial strength. But naturally, investors don't want to invest in companies that are expected to tread water, so the selections also had to have projected three- to five-year annual growth of at least 5%.   Ian Gendler, Value Line director of research, said that an A++ rating requires an exc

  Upgrades:   Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) was upgraded by analysts at Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $148.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $129.00. Mizuho’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 7.14% from the stock’s previous close. SRE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Sempra Energy from $143.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Sempra Energy from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on Sempra Energy from $159.00 to $149.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 5th. Seaport Global Securities restated a

  Iron Mountain Stock Has Raised its Annual Dividend for 9 Years   If knowledge is power, Iron Mountain Inc (NYSE:IRM) helps hundreds of thousands of customers stay at the top of their game. And thanks to the company’s diversified business model, unmatched customer base, and 98% customer retention rate, it has been able to provide investors with strong share-price growth and a frothy dividend, which currently stands at 6.5%.   Iron Mountain is the global leader in storage and information management services. Trusted by more than 225,000 organizations around the world, the company stores and protects billions of valued assets, including critical business information, highly sensitive data, and cultural artifacts. It has a real estate network of nearly 93 million square feet across approximately 1,450 facilities in 56 countries. (Source: “Investor Presentation: Q1 2021,” Iron Mountain Inc, last accessed April 20, 2021.)   Iron Mountain is an excellent company that not only we

  PEP Stock Remains a Top Pick for Dividend Investors   In a world of soaring tickers, dividend announcements often get ignored. After all, if you can earn a double-digit profit from one upswing in a company’s share price, who cares about a few percentages of dividend yield?   However, when a company has the ability to increase its dividend payment to shareholders year after year for a long time, it’s often a sign of durable competitive advantage. And if there’s one thing that every income investor should do, it’s to consider businesses with durable competitive advantages.   And that’s why the latest dividend announcement from PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) deserves attention.   On February 11, PepsiCo announced a five-percent increase to its annual dividend rate from $4.09 per share to $4.30 per share, starting with the June payment.   That gives PepsiCo stock a forward dividend yield of just over three percent at the current share price.   Here’s the more importan

  Upgrades:   Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) was upgraded by research analysts at Raymond James from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Analyst Price Targets reports. XOM has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $62.00 price objective (up from $48.00) on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Monday, March 15th. Exane BNP Paribas raised shares of Exxon Mobil from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $45.50 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Tuesday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $53.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, M

  A High-Yield Energy Stock to Think About   In this day and age, not every income investor feels comfortable putting their money in the energy sector. After all, the price of energy commodities often goes on a roller-coaster ride. And since income investors tend to be risk-averse, that kind of volatility isn’t exactly appealing.   Still, there are energy stocks worth considering, even for the risk-averse income investor.   For instance, in November 2020, I told readers to consider Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB). I wrote, “If an investor purchases Enbridge stock today, there’s a good chance they will earn higher yield on cost in the years ahead.”   As it turns out, investors didn’t have to wait very long to earn a higher yield on cost.   On December 8, Enbridge declared a quarterly cash dividend of CA$0.835 per share, representing a 3.1% increase from its prior quarterly payout of CA$0.81 per share. The new dividend rate went into effect on March 1, 2021. (Source: “Enbridg

  Texas Instruments Incorporated [NASDAQ: TXN] is an American technology company, which designs, manufactures, tests and sells analog and embedded semiconductors in industrial, personal electronics, automotive, communications equipment and other markets.   It operates in two segments:   Analog and Embedded Processing.   It is often said that the history of Texas Instruments (TI) is very closely associated with the American electronics industry.   TI produced the world’s first silicon transistor in 1954, and the first transistor radio the same year. It was a TI engineer Jack Kilby who invented the first semiconductor integrated circuit in 1958, and introduced the first single-chip microcontroller (an assembly of electronic components, fabricated as a single unit onto one piece of silicon) in 1970, which helped fuel the modern electronics revolution.   TI also invented the hand-held calculator in 1967. The company, which traces its roots to Geophysical Service, a pe

   Interest rates may be up, but they’re still historically low. The best high-yield stocks are far better investments. Here are two that stand out.     The benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield spiked 90% higher in just the first three months of this year. That stratospheric leap took the rate on the bellwether bond all the way to … 1.75%. And these higher rates are filtering through the bond and fixed income markets.   Now, you can get about 0.75% on a two-year CD. The iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) now yields a whopping 2.72%. The yield on a AAA-rate 20-year municipal bond is all the way up to 1.5%. And get this: Rates are likely to move even higher over the rest of the year.   Rates like this could keep you in beer money for a year if you invest enough. Sure, after taxes and inflation you’ll probably lose money. But that’s the brave new world. It looks like these pathetic low rates on traditional fixed income investments are here to stay.  

  XOM stock is worth over 30% more based on its historical yield, P/E, and P/Sales multiples   Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) is not going to lower its dividend no matter what it costs the company. That point came out loud and clear from the company’s latest earnings conference call. This means that XOM stock will continue to have a “strong” dividend yield of about 6.15%. It’s worth at least 32% more, or $74.63 per share, based on its historical dividend yield.   For the past two years (8 quarters) Exxon has paid 87 cents per share in quarterly dividends. That works out to $3.48 per share each year. Exxon clearly intends to maintain that dividend. Therefore, at today’s price (April 9) of $55.87, the dividend yield is very healthy at 6.2%.   Target Price Based on Historicals   Moreover, based on the company’s historical dividend yield, this is much higher than its average. For example, Morningstar reports that over the past 5 years, its trailing 5-year dividend yield has b

  Upgrades:   The Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) was upgraded by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “conviction-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, The Fly reports. Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on SCHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on The Charles Schwab in a research report on Thursday, March 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research raised The Charles Schwab from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 22nd. Zacks Investment Research cut The Charles Schwab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on The Charles Schwab from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 20th. F

  Improving business plus undervalued stock could lead to double-digit returns   U.K.-based Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL) had a difficult first half to 2020 as the coronavirus weighed on its food service and out-of-home businesses. The second half of the year was a different story as sales growth returned. The stock is down 7.5% year to date while the S&P 500 has enjoyed a nearly 6% return.   Shares are also trading below their historical valuation as well as their estimated intrinsic value. This, combined with an improving business and a solid dividend yield, make Unilever an intriguing option in the consumer staples space.   Let's look closer at Unilever to see why I feel the stock is attractively priced.   Recent earnings results   Unilever reported full-year 2020 results on Feb. 4. For the year, revenue grew 1.9%. While not terribly impressive, the company reported 0%, -0.3%, 4.4% and 3.5% sales growth for the first-, second-, third- and fourth-quarters. As you

  Investors in these blue-chip names should enjoy years of capital growth and dividends   Blue-chip stocks are typically cornerstones of most long-term portfolios. They’re large capitalization businesses with relatively long histories, a broad range of resources, strong brands, stable earnings and cash-flow growth. These businesses benefit from economies of scale and can quickly invest in new technologies. The 30 stocks included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are blue-chip stocks. So, today I’m introducing you to seven DJIA blue-chip names that could work for buy-and-hold investors.   The companies in the DJIA represent a wide range of industries. Following the market lows seen in spring 2020, they have also rebounded significantly. In fact, the broad-based market rally since November has taken the index to new highs in recent days. Year-to-date (YTD), the index is up over 8%. Similarly, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:DIA) — an exchange-tr

  Disposals:   Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) COO Johan Deblaere sold 8,000 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $2,240,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 52,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,120. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . Accenture stock traded down $2.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $278.56. The stock had a trading volume of 16,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,102,441. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $257.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $245.96. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $148.28 and a twelve month high of $281.30. The firm has a market cap of $183.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.58, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.08. Read more …   Broadcom I

  Upgrades:   Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) was upgraded by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $36.00 target price on the closed-end fund's stock, up from their prior target price of $22.00. BMO Capital Markets' target price would suggest a potential upside of 22.45% from the stock's current price. BEN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 18th. Barclays increased the

  These 7 high yield dividend stocks have yields above 5%   Looking for some interesting investment income? These seven high-yield dividend stocks have enough earnings projected for 2021 to cover the company’s likely dividends (with one exception). This ensures that there is a low likelihood the company will lower its dividend. And the one exception should see earnings to cover the dividend in 2022, and remains committed to continuing payouts. And that’s all important, since even the possibility of a dividend cut will drag down a stock once the market believes this is possible.   I also screened this list for two other criteria. First, the dividend yield has to be at least 5%, again, with earnings covering the dividend payment. This is also known as its dividend payout ratio.   Second, the company paying the dividend is not a fund or a partnership, run by some fund manager, etc. Typically corporations tend to maintain their dividend at a steady rate, whereas a fund will ten