In this low interest rate environment, dividends are still looking great. After all, the S&P 500 currently yields about 2%, and that is a heck of a lot better than you can get through most savings accounts (and even Treasuries). On top of this, dividends do two important things:
- First, a generous dividend payment often lowers a stock’s volatility. I’d much rather own a stock that’s stable rather than one that scatters all over the place.
- They also tell me how much money a company really has. If the company is willing to part with cash in the form of a dividend payment, then I know they really earned it.
But you still have to do your homework and screen dividend stocks for fundamental health. Stock selection remains critical with dividend stocks, because if you choose them correctly, you can make a fortune both as your invested capital appreciates over the years—and as the quarterly dividend grows.
And now is the perfect time to do so because we’re coming up on a bunch of ex-dividend dates over the next few weeks. I’ve listed the big dividends below. In order, they’re listed by Dividend Grader and Portfolio Grader ratings: A (dark green), B (light green), C (yellow), D (orange) and F (dark red). The first table features thirty stocks that rank highly in Dividend Grader and Portfolio Grader, the second table lists seven stocks to hold, and the third table lists 11 stocks to sell right away.
| Dividend and Growth Double-Whammy Stocks | |||||
| Ticker | Company Name | Dividend Yield | Ex-Dividend Date | Dividend Grader Score | Portfolio Grader Score |
| ALV | Autoliv Inc. | 2.0% | 5/16/2016 | B | B |
| ARI | Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance | 10.9% | 3/29/2016 | B | B |
| AXS | Axis Capital Holdings Limited | 2.2% | 3/29/2016 | B | B |
| BXMT | Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc. | 8.4% | 3/29/2016 | B | B |
| CBRL | Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. | 2.8% | 4/13/2016 | A | B |
| COR | CoreSite Realty Corp. | 2.6% | 3/29/2016 | B | A |
| CSC | Computer Sciences Corp. | 2.6% | 4/01/2016 | A | B |
| CSCO | Cisco Systems Inc. | 3.0% | 4/04/2016 | A | B |
| CUBE | CubeSmart | 2.1% | 3/30/2016 | B | A |
| DOW | Dow Chemical Company | 3.3% | 3/29/2016 | A | A |
| FL | Foot Locker Inc. | 1.5% | 4/13/2016 | B | B |
| FR | First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. | 2.3% | 3/29/2016 | B | B |
| GD | General Dynamics Corp. | 2.0% | 4/06/2016 | A | B |
| GGG | Graco Inc. | 1.5% | 4/14/2016 | B | A |
| GIS | General Mills Inc. | 2.9% | 4/07/2016 | A | A |
| INTU | Intuit Inc. | 1.1% | 4/07/2016 | A | B |
| ITW | Illinois Tool Works Inc. | 2.0% | 3/29/2016 | B | B |
| JPM | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 2.8% | 4/04/2016 | A | B |
| KR | Kroger Co. | 1.1% | 5/11/2016 | A | B |
| KWR | Quaker Chemical Corp. | 1.5% | 4/13/2016 | B | B |
| LII | Lennox International Inc. | 1.0% | 3/29/2016 | B | A |
| MDLZ | Mondelez International Inc. | 1.6% | 3/29/2016 | A | B |
| MMC | Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. | 2.0% | 4/06/2016 | A | B |
| MSFT | Microsoft Corp. | 2.5% | 5/17/2016 | B | A |
| MTN | Vail Resorts Inc. | 2.0% | 3/24/2016 | B | A |
| RSG | Republic Services Inc. | 2.4% | 3/30/2016 | B | A |
| SWX | Southwest Gas Corp. | 2.5% | 5/12/2016 | B | B |
| TGT | Target Corp. | 2.7% | 5/16/2016 | A | B |
| VZ | Verizon Communications Inc. | 4.2% | 4/06/2016 | B | A |
| YUM | Yum! Brands Inc. | 2.2% | 4/13/2016 | A | B |
| Hold These Stocks | |||||
| Ticker | Company Name | Dividend Yield | Ex-Dividend Date | Dividend Grader Score | Portfolio Grader Score |
| AMAT | Applied Materials Inc. | 2.0% | 5/24/2016 | C | C |
| APD | Air Products and Chemicals Inc. | 2.3% | 3/30/2016 | C | C |
| LECO | Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. | 2.0% | 3/29/2016 | C | C |
| OFC | Corporate Office Properties Trust | 4.3% | 3/29/2016 | C | C |
| RHP | Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. | 5.1% | 3/29/2016 | C | C |
| UMPQ | Umpqua Holdings Corp. | 3.9% | 3/29/2016 | C | C |
| USB | U.S. Bancorp | 2.4% | 3/29/2016 | C | C |
| Sell These Stocks | |||||
| Ticker | Company Name | Dividend Yield | Ex-Dividend Date | Dividend Grader Score | Portfolio Grader Score |
| APA | Apache Corp. | 2.0% | 4/20/2016 | F | D |
| BDN | Brandywine Realty Trust | 4.5% | 3/31/2016 | F | D |
| BEN | Franklin Resources Inc. | 1.6% | 3/29/2016 | F | D |
| CBL | CBL & Associates Properties Inc. | 8.9% | 3/28/2016 | F | F |
| CPG | Crescent Point Energy Corp. | 11.3% | 3/29/2016 | F | D |
| DVN | Devon Energy Corp. | 3.5% | 6/13/2016 | F | F |
| IVR | Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. | 13.6% | 3/23/2016 | F | D |
| KRC | Kilroy Realty Corp. | 2.3% | 3/29/2016 | F | D |
| PNR | Pentair plc | 2.4% | 4/20/2016 | F | D |
| STAG | STAG Industrial Inc. | 7.0% | 3/29/2016 | F | D |
| TRP | TransCanada Corp. | 4.2% | 3/29/2016 | F | D |
As you can see, there are plenty of promising dividend stocks to buy, but there are also many pitfalls here. As always, you should continue running your holdings through both Portfolio Grader and Dividend Grader to make sure that you’re only holding top-rated stocks.
Sincerely,
Louis Navellier