Value Investing News

Having narrowly missed the tech bubble bursting, I purchased my first dividend stock on December 11, 2003. I had heard dividend investments were supposed to be safer, but knew very little else about the strategy. I was fortunate enough to accidentally buy enough good dividend stocks to learn the “secret” of dividend investing.

What a difference a year makes. This time last year we were looking at big-name dividend cuts and very few increases. Last week’s 16 increases set the stage for this week’s flood of companies, large and small, raising cash dividends paid to their shareholders.

Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is scheduled to release its fiscal fourth-quarter 2009 financial results before the market open on Thursday, February 11, 2009. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 91 cents a share on revenue of $13.27 billion.

Dividend investors are paid for holding common stocks, which is one reason why a company which keeps paying a stable or rising dividend does not fall as much during bear market declines. The dividend returns are always positive, which provides a safety cushion even in the worst times possible.

Most of the companies which leave the dividend achievers or the dividend aristocrat indexes do so because of three reasons. Firtst, they might stop raising dividends because they needed cash for acquisitions. Another reason is that companies cut distributions because of poor economic conditions or need for cash in acquisition.

The dividend aristocrats list includes companies which have increased dividends for over 25 years in a row. It is equally weighted and re-balanced once an year. Over the past 3,5 and 7 years the index of elite dividend stocks has managed to outperform the S&P 500 by 5%, 3.7% and 4.40% respectively.

Pepsi seems to be just a bit better run than Coca Cola in terms of management and operations (inventory management). Coca cola is a bit better in terms of riks, but both are extremely stable companies that are worthy
of investment.
The greatest risk to this investment is paying too much for it's shares. My valuation indicates that Coca Cola is overvalued at the moment.

’Tis the season for stock predictions! Virtually every financial writer will pen an article selecting his or her top picks for the upcoming year. I enjoy reading them and the logic behind the picks and sometimes there is a gem to be found.

The stock market has been on a consistent bull run since it hit a low in March 2009. As stocks keep hitting new highs for the year however, buyout by the prospect of economic recovery, many value investors are getting nervous about valuations. The P/E ratio on the S&P 500 for example has risen to its highest levels in several years.

Deep-down in my soul, I am a contrarian. I felt a sense of excitement entering October. This is the month that stocks have traditionally gone on sale. I was prepared to make a double allocation depending on the level of the markets decline. It didn’t happen.

Estimating future dividend growth is difficult if not impossible. Companies which might have had a long history of consistent double digit increases might stop raising dividends and might even cut them. It is easy to predict whether or not a company’s dividend is sustainable in the short run, by evaluating EPS trends, dividend payout ratios and cash flows.

Driven by sophisticated computers, the investment markets move at light speed. what chance does a small individual investor have when trying to compete?

Most investors have specific goals in mind they pick a certain strategy to utilize. They then get to pick strategies that could help them achieve those goals. The end result from this exercise is that too often investors end up bailing out on strategies at the worst possible times.

Most younger investors tend to ignore dividend stocks, which typically are mature, slower growing companies with dependable cashflows a portion of which are distributed back to investors. Younger investors view these dependable income stocks as boring and too slow moving, which don’t have anything better to do with their cashflows but send them back to owners in the form of dividends.

The strong bullish move off of March 2009 lows has lifted many stocks, thus creating large unrealized paper gains for many dividend investors. While prices have enjoyed a steep run-up, dividend yields, which move inversely to prices, have declined in the process.