Value Investing News

The latest 10-K filing by CULLEN/FROST BANKERS, INC.

All income investors love a stock with a good yield. The smart ones look for dividends that are sustainable and likely to grow. The question is, 'In an uncertain world, how do you determine which dividends are sustainable and likely to grow?' Of coarse, there is no way to know with exact certainty which dividends are sustainable, but there are tell-tale signs that often foretell the future.

New income investors naturally focus on yield, but the highest yielding stocks aren't always the best investments. To find the very best dividend growth stocks an investor must identify companies that will not just sustain their dividends, but increase them every year. To find these jewels in the rough, there are two very important things the investor must look for.

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Looking for a stock that will grow its dividend in the future and pay you handsomely now? The yield is not the only thing you need to focus on. You will also need to check the stock's Free Cash Flow Payout. This tells you how much cash the stock has left over after paying the normal operating expenses. This is the cash used to pay for acquisitions, debt obligations and dividends!

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Any income investor will tell you that it is important for a company to sustain its dividend. However, as an investor in dividend growth stocks, it is not enough to simply sustain the dividend – I want to own companies that are capable of sustained dividend growth.

A photograph captures a moment in time. Seconds after the flash dims a tree could have fallen on the object of the photo or the sad looking man in the photo could have been told he just won a million dollars.

Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of Southside Bancshares Inc. (SBSI). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis:

Company Description: Southside Bancshares Inc. primarily provides financial services to individuals, businesses, municipal entities, and non-profit organizations.

Over the past week twenty-two companies announced that they would be rewarding shareholders with higher dividend payouts. Several solid blue chip companies such as IBM, Costco and Exxon Mobil raised their payouts as well.

In the U.S. and Canada, most companies pay dividends quarterly. In other parts of the world, it is not uncommon for companies to pay an annual or a semi-annual dividend. That is not to say that North American companies sometimes choose not to pay quarterly dividends. Though I prefer quarterly dividends, there is something more important than frequency...