Focus on Dividends

  In this article, I will go through the weekly dividend increases and cuts in popular and well-known stocks. (Member of The Dividend Champions or Canadian All-Star list)   Recently, 41 companies announced dividend increases. Note that no dividend cuts or suspensions were announced during this period. This is the first part of the weeks notifications.   The table below summarises the dividend change announcements.   The table shows the current dividend, the new dividend and the percentage increase (%). Dividends are shown on an annual basis and in US dollars unless otherwise stated. Yield is the new dividend yield of the most recent price, and Years is the years of consecutive dividend increases.           Black Hills Corporation (BKH) Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. It operates through four segments: Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities, Power Generation, and Minin

  In this article, I will go through the weekly dividend increases and cuts in popular and well-known stocks. (Member of The Dividend Champions or Canadian All-Star list)   Recently, 41 companies announced dividend increases. Note that no dividend cuts or suspensions were announced during this period. This is the first part of the weeks notifications.   The table below summarises the dividend change announcements.   The table shows the current dividend, the new dividend and the percentage increase (%). Dividends are shown on an annual basis and in US dollars unless otherwise stated. Yield is the new dividend yield of the most recent price, and Years is the years of consecutive dividend increases.           Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (FELE) Franklin Electric Co., Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and distributes water and fuel pumping systems worldwide. It operates in three segments: Water Systems, Fueling Systems, and Distribution

  Upgrades:   Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Thursday, The Fly reports. Several other research firms also recently commented on WSM. Loop Capital raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 19th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $205.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut thei

  Upgrades:   Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was upgraded by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Monday, The Fly reports. The brokerage presently has a $60.00 price target on the cable giant’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.65% from the stock’s current price. A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Comcast from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 22nd. Citigroup cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $53.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on Comcast from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 1st. Macquarie cut Comcast from an “outperform” rating to a “ne

  These low P/E, dividend-paying plays are poised for meaningful upside in 2022     In general, investors look for capital gains from high-growth stocks. Dividend stocks, meanwhile, often don’t provide significant upside. However, investors who prefer regular cash flows tend to go overweight on dividend stocks.   Of course, there are exceptions among dividend plays, from the perspective of healthy capital gains as well as dividend gains. My focus in this column, though, is on dividend stocks that seem to be trading at attractive valuations.   It’s worth noting that the S&P 500 currently trades at a cyclically adjusted price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 39.6. As such, I have screened dividend stocks that trade at a significant discount to broad market valuations. Over the next six to 12 months, these picks have headroom for meaningful upside. Investors can therefore enjoy the double benefit of regular cash inflows as well as capital growth.   I would also add that most

  In this article, I will go through the weekly dividend increases and cuts in popular and well-known stocks. (Member of The Dividend Champions or Canadian All-Star list)   Recently, 19 companies announced dividend increases. Note that no dividend cuts or suspensions were announced during this period.   The table below summarises the dividend change announcements.   The table shows the current dividend, the new dividend and the percentage increase (%). Dividends are shown on an annual basis and in US dollars unless otherwise stated. Yield is the new dividend yield of the most recent price, and Years is the years of consecutive dividend increases.           Alamo Group Inc. (ALG) Alamo Group Inc. designs, manufactures, distributes, and services agricultural and infrastructure maintenance equipment for governmental and industrial use worldwide. The company offers hydraulically-powered and tractor-mounted mowers, such as boom-mounted mowers; other cutters and r