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The Dividend Stock Recovery: Investors Get Ready for a High-Yield Bonanza

Companies / Dividends Mar 08, 2010 - 07:30 AM GMT

By: Money_Morning

Alexander Green writes: It's been a tough time for income investors lately.

Ten-year Treasuries pay less than 4%. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index yields just over 2%. Money market fund returns are microscopic, paying an average of just 0.05%. (At that rate, it will take your money one thousand years to double.)

What should you do?

Take a look not at the stock market, but inside it. The S&P 500 may yield 2.1%, but many individual stocks are yielding far more. In addition, yields are about to arch higher.

Here's why...

The Dividend Nosedive Is Over

In a normal year, companies announce 10 to 20 times more favorable than unfavorable dividend changes. But the last two years have been anything but normal.

The financial crisis forced many banks and other financial companies to cut or suspend dividend payments. And the credit crisis and recession led companies in many other sectors to cut back wherever they could to conserve cash.

• In 2009, for the first time in half a century, American companies announced more dividend cuts than increases. Overall, these dividend cuts cost investors $58 billion.
• On a quarterly basis, the first three months of 2009 were the worst of the cycle, with 64% of dividend announcements being negative. (That figure fell just a little short of the record 67%, set in the second quarter of 1958.)

But the worst of the recession is now over (witness U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's decision to raise the discount rate by a quarter-point to 0.75%) and the number of negative dividend decisions is already declining.

"The worst is over for dividends," says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC. "Standard & Poor's believes that a dividend recovery is underway."

I know, I know. An average 2.1% S&P 500 dividend yield isn't much to get excited about. But unlike fixed-rate investments, stock dividends rise over time. And sometimes they rise a lot.

Dividends Are a Long-Term Investor's Best Friend

I'll never forget the time 25 years ago when as a young stockbroker - still wet behind the ears - I suggested to a client that she sell one of her oil stocks.
"I can't sell that stock - I need the dividend," she said.

I reminded her that it was only yielding 2%.

"Son, it's yielding 2% to buyers today. My annual dividends are more than my original investment."

Two lessons here...

1. When a client calls you "Son," you've almost certainly offered some bone-headed advice.
2. Never mistake today's payout for a long-time investor's yield.

So if you're looking to fund a retirement 10 or 20 years out, dividends then will almost certainly be a lot higher than they are today.

Six Stocks Spitting Out Healthy Dividends

Also, if you look within the S&P 500, there are plenty of stocks with above-average dividend yields:

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) - 5.3%.

• Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) - 5.7%.

• Pitney-Bowes Inc.  (NYSE: PBI) - 6.4%.

• AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) - 6.7%.

• Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) - 6.7%.

• Frontier Communications Corp. (NYSE: FTR) - 13.1%.

With retirement ahead of you and the worst of the recession behind you, consider scooping up a handful of these high-dividend payers.

Five years from now, these stocks should be significantly higher. And that goes for their quarterly payouts, too.

[Editor's Note: Dividend stocks represent a crucial part of any investment portfolio - but the consistent passive income assumes even more importance the closer you get to retirement age.

That's why The Oxford Club publishes the monthly Ultimate Retirement Letter, which gives specific advice on issues regarding retirement, plus income investments geared towards a retirement portfolio. For example, the current portfolio is packed with 12 top-quality dividend stocks, with yields ranging between 2.7% and 10.5%.

The Ultimate Retirement Letter is just one of the many benefits that you'll receive as an Oxford Club member. To get a full list - and find out how you can become a member, simply click this link.]

Source: http://moneymorning.com/2010/03/08/dividend-stock-recovery/

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