Value Investing News

When stock prices start dropping, our primal instinct of flight kicks in and we want to sell. In many cases that is the time to be buying. As a long-term buy-and-hold investor, most of my evaluation efforts are aimed at determining when to buy a stock. However, sometimes selling a stock is the right thing to do, and we need to be adept at identifying those times.

There are income investors and Dividend Growth investors. While the distinction is rather simple, it slips past many casual observers. Income investors are investing for maximum current income, while dividend growth investors are looking to maximize income over an extended period of time — usually sacrificing current income for potential greater future earnings.

The latest list of companies that are consistent cash creators sorted by normalized earnings yield.

The Consistent Cash Creators stock screen looks at companies with consistent free cash flows and high normalized earnings yield. Not one position selected by the screen in 2009 produced a negative return and the overall average return was 62%.

Three well-known dividend aristocrats raised dividends last week. The companies include Coca-Cola (KO), Abbott Labs (ABT) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW). Another promising dividend raiser included Swiss Company Nestle (NSRGY). In dividend investing it is important not only to concentrate on companies with solid competitive advantages, but also ones which grow earnings and dividends along the line.

You expect your employer to give you a salary increase periodically. Why wouldn’t you expect the same from your investments? One of the most important aspects of a dividend stock is its ability to consistency raise dividends over time.

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.