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Dividend Aristrocrats: Four Income Favorites

"A good source for finding stocks that consistently boost their dividends is S&P's High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index," suggests Chuck Carlson.

The editor of The DRIP Investor explains, "Four stocks in that index -- ExxonMobil (XOM), PepsiCo (PEP), Procter & Gamble (PG) and Walgreen (WAG) -- are also long-time residents of our Editor's Portfolio.

"It's estimated that approximately one-third of the S&P 500 Index's total return since 1926 is due to dividends. Thus, dividends matter, especially if that dividend stream rises over time.

Continue reading Dividend Aristrocrats: Four Income Favorites

Procter & Gamble's Dull Price Action

Procter & Gamble (PG) isn't in the green. At the time of this writing, shares of the consumer concern were flat. They were off by a mere nine pennies to $60.31. Perhaps they'll end up in the green by the end of the day, who knows, but one thing's for sure: if you own shares of this one, you're having one heck of a boring Monday.

And you might be bored by something else. According to TheFly, guidance for the full fiscal year hasn't been changed. Management continues to expect the bottom line to come in somewhere between $3.91 per share and $4.01 per share.

Continue reading Procter & Gamble's Dull Price Action

Clorox Flat on Earnings News

The Clorox Company (CLX) shares haven't done too badly over the last twelve months. The chart shows something of an upward bias to the stock. It was trading near the 52-week high of $66.44 after the consumer-products company issued its fiscal fourth-quarter report on Tuesday.

The reaction to the news wasn't so enthused. Shares closed down slightly to $64.47. Of course, it was a lot better than what happened to colleague The Procter & Gamble Company (PG). That stock saw a significant sell-off on its quarterly data.

Continue reading Clorox Flat on Earnings News

ConAgra Produces an Acceptable Quarter

ConAgra Foods (CAG), a company that produces packaged edibles for supermarkets and whose colleagues include Campbell Soup (CPB) and Kraft (KFT), didn't have the kind of quarter you look at and say, "Way to go, management!" It was a boring, steady kind of reporting period.

For the fiscal third quarter, total sales were kind of flat, down a minuscule 0.9%. Earnings from continuing operations on an adjusted basis rose 10% to 44 cents per diluted share. Compared to estimates, that 44-cent stat came in as expected, nothing more, nothing less.

Continue reading ConAgra Produces an Acceptable Quarter

General Mills Reports Impressive Income Increase in Q3

General Mills (GIS), whose colleagues at the food markets include Kellogg (K), Kraft Foods (KFT), and Campbell Soup (CPB), performed well in the fiscal third quarter. On an adjusted basis, net income increased 23% to 97 cents per diluted share. This beat estimates by four pennies.

General Mills was able to expand the gross margin by keeping an eye on efficiency opportunities and optimizing the overall quality of the inventory mix. Of course, there was a little luck involved, too, as commodity costs weren't as expensive as they previously had been. It's always good when that happens.

Continue reading General Mills Reports Impressive Income Increase in Q3

Serious Money: Greek Bonds or High Yield Stocks?

When I read that economically troubled Greece has 10-year bonds currently yielding between 6.32% and 6.44%, I wondered why these have any worth at all given the many alternatives offering a better return and greater liquidity? This baffled me.

Only Tuesday, I wrote about Telecom Corp New Zealand (NZT), a stock paying over 10% yield. The story also mentions that AT&T, Inc. (T) is currently paying a 6.4% yield and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) is offering 6.25%. From my perspective, these are far better bets, safer and with some upside too than Greek debt.

Continue reading Serious Money: Greek Bonds or High Yield Stocks?

GE vs. H.J. Heinz: Which Is the Tastier Dividend Play?

GE vs. H.J. Heinz: Which is the tastier dividend play?Just last week General Electric (GE) surged on news that it will likely boost its dividend by some time in 2011. Coupled with the resumption of General Electric's buyback plan, shares set a new 52-week high.

But before you set off the fireworks and jump back into GE with the rest of the lemmings on Wall Street, take a closer look at the stock's fundamentals. My analysis of this company shows some serious flaws in profits and sales growth. Wall Street has forecast negative revenue growth for each of the next four quarters, and though earnings have topped the Street's low expectations recently, they have been relatively flat. That means GE isn't sinking, but it sure isn't going anywhere.

Continue reading GE vs. H.J. Heinz: Which Is the Tastier Dividend Play?

Everyone's Talking About GE

General Electric (GE) used to be a blue chip. Well, I suppose you could argue it still is one, but you have to admit it hasn't acted like one for a while. Remember when the stock hit a single-digit, multi-year low last year? That was painful, especially to someone who owned a long-term position in the business. Like myself.

Besides owning a long-term position, I tried trading the company during the economic crisis. I didn't succeed; I eventually sold the short-term position at a loss, as I mentioned in this piece. But I still hold my long-term shares. And if you haven't been reading the financial news lately, you've missed all the articles about the industrial conglomerate. Looks like everyone is talking about GE, specifically about its potential to come back in the next year or so.

Continue reading Everyone's Talking About GE

Potlatch (PCH): Timber!

"In a world where complex derivatives contracts and other paper assets can evaporate at any time, it's refreshing to own something real and tangible -- and you can't get much more solid than a tree," says value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks, he explains, "Potlatch (PCH) owns plenty of them, with a portfolio of 1.6 million acres spread throughout Arkansas, Idaho, Minnesota and Wisconsin. That forestland produces a steady harvest year in and year out. Timber production has been rising at a healthy +9% annual pace, reaching 4.4 million tons before last year's slowdown

Continue reading Potlatch (PCH): Timber!

World Wrestling Entertainment's Q4: Lower GAAP Profit, Higher Cash Flow

World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) story hasn't changed too much, in my opinion. It's holding up pretty well with its business model, but as far as unambiguous growth is concerned, management remains in a challenged position.

WWE released Q4 earnings to the market on Thursday, and the results were rather mediocre for the most part. Per-share profit dropped three pennies to 15 cents. Revenues saw a modest decline. Excluding items, adjusted operating income increased 9% on a dollar basis.

Continue reading World Wrestling Entertainment's Q4: Lower GAAP Profit, Higher Cash Flow

3M Posts Notable Fourth Quarter

3M Company (MMM) delivered a fourth quarter that its shareholders can look upon with enthusiasm. Sales increased 11%. On an adjusted basis (taking into account special items seen in last year's comparable reporting period), earnings per share went up over 30% to $1.30. Earnings.com indicates that $1.21 per share was on the market's radar.

Good show. And let's not forget about the cash flow, because that's an important component of this company's success. Free cash flow jumped 16% in Q4. It was better by more than 30% over the full fiscal year.

Continue reading 3M Posts Notable Fourth Quarter

Chasing Value: 2010 -- #4 Home Depot

This year's selections do not seem to offer the same dividend opportunities of years past and my first three choices have none at all. That changes with this pick. Home Depot (HD) is distributing a 3.09% yield.

It's getting tiring to relate the demise of various companies to the residential market collapse, high unemployment and so forth, but certainly this company has been greatly affected. In addition, Home Depot was already struggling to recover from a "me first" CEO who happened to be forced out with the small stipend of $200 million, leaving behind shabby stores with questionable customer service while at the same time facing strong competition from Lowe's Cos (LOW).

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 -- #4 Home Depot

General Mills Increases Profit and Operating Cash Flow in Q2

General Mills, Inc. (GIS), a food company that competes in the cereal aisles with Kellogg Company (K), performed well in the second quarter. The top line didn't budge too much, but the bottom line moved up 13% to $1.54 on an adjusted basis. Cash from operations really stood out. For the six-month period, over $980 million was generated from business activities. In the comparable frame, over $360 million was booked.

According to our earnings preview, the market was expecting $1.44 per share in net income. What drove the very positive results? I think you can definitely allocate a fair amount of praise to execution. But you can also credit brand power and a more favorable commodity environment as fiscal drivers.

Continue reading General Mills Increases Profit and Operating Cash Flow in Q2

Deere up on Q4 earnings performance

Deere (DE) reported fourth-quarter results today. Even though the well-known maker of agricultural equipment had a tough year, the company's stock currently sits near a 52-week high as the bulls hope the worst is behind it.

On an adjusted basis, Deere posted a profit of 23 cents per share. This number easily beat the analysts, as they believed Q4 was only worth about 3 cents per share, according to our earnings preview.

Continue reading Deere up on Q4 earnings performance

World Wrestling Entertainment Q3 results exceed expectations

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE)'s stock jumped Thursday after the market took a look at the company's Q3 data. Overall revenues didn't see much of an increase, but earnings per share rose over 70% to 12 cents. Driving this incredible growth rate was a cut in gross costs. Analysts were betting on 10 cents in per-share profit, according to Earnings.com.

Did WWE deserve a pop of 7% during yesterday's trading session? Some of the excitement was certainly justified. It's obviously a positive thing to see management acting so diligently when it comes to costs. Of course, there was an increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses during the quarter, so there is still room for improvement (the nine-month table did show a decrease in this line, to be fair).

Continue reading World Wrestling Entertainment Q3 results exceed expectations

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Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-89.2312,801.23
NASDAQ-23.352,903.88
S&P 500-9.311,342.64

Last updated: February 11, 2012: 09:47 PM

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