Value Investing News

Before the 2008 financial meltdown, names like Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup, Inc. (C), U.S. Bancorp (USB) and Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) were held in many dividend growth portfolios. And why not? They paid a good yield and grew their dividend on a regular basis. Now their yields range between 0.5% and 1.7%. There is a lesson to be learned here...

When looking for value-priced stocks, the Price-To-Book (P/B) ratio is one that I like to focus on. P/B is calculated as share price divided by book value per share. Book value is most often calculated as Assets less Liabilities.

While the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats may be the most recognized list of dividend stocks, it is certainty not the largest. Since the Dividend Aristocrats list is limited to only stocks included in the S&P 500 Index, many smaller stocks are excluded. To expand the population of potential investments, many investors look at the dividend growth stocks included in Broad Dividend Achievers™ list.

The Financial Services Sector includes insurance companies, banks, brokerages, mutual funds and other similar companies. Before the 2008-09 financial services meltdown, these stocks were the cornerstone on many income portfolios. The companies were flush with cash, the stocks provided relatively high yields, good dividend growth rates and carried very little perceived risk.

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“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” - Wayne Gretzky - I know very little about hockey, but I have always loved this quote. It can be applied to so many things in life, including investing. Just as Gretzky has a vision as to where the puck is going, investors need to have a similar vision, and not get caught up on short-sighted distractions.

To succeed as a dividend growth investor you must identify and purchase stocks with sustainable dividend growth. Inertia is powerful force. Once a company has established a track record of growing its dividend over the decades and developed a shareholder base that expects higher dividends each year, it becomes increasing difficult for management to cut or fail to raise their dividend.

This is the second installment in a multi-part series that looks at different sectors that have traditionally been very friendly to dividend investors. Each of these sectors have attributes that make the companies in them potentially desirable to long-term buy-and-hold dividend growth investors.

It’s human nature for new income investors to focus on yield. Many eventually learn that above average yields often carry an above average risk of a dividend cut, loss of invested capital or both. People involved in extreme sports/hobbies, such as base jumping, hang gliding and shark diving, do things to minimize risk and protect themselves.

For dividend growth investors, there are certain attributes of investments that are more relevant than others, such as yield and dividend growth. To illustrate the power of dividend growth consider that an investment’s yield-on-cost will double every 5 years if they grow their dividend by 15%/year or 7 years at 10%/year or 14 years at 5%/year.