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. 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 rating: A (dark green), B (light green), C (yellow), D (light red) and F (dark red). As and Bs are solid buys, Cs are holds and Ds and Fs are sells.
| Ticker | Company Name | Dividend Yield | Ex-Dividend | Payment |
| ANTM | Anthem Inc. | 2.0% | 9/07/2016 | $0.65 |
| APH | Amphenol Corp. | 0.9% | 9/09/2016 | $0.14 |
| CHRW | C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. | 2.4% | 8/31/2016 | $0.42 |
| CMP | Compass Minerals International Inc. | 3.7% | 8/30/2016 | $0.70 |
| CNO | CNO Financial Group Inc. | 1.9% | 9/07/2016 | $0.08 |
| CRI | Carter’s Inc. | 1.1% | 8/26/2016 | $0.33 |
| DPZ | Domino’s Pizza Inc. | 0.9% | 9/13/2016 | $0.38 |
| EAT | Brinker International Inc. | 2.4% | 9/07/2016 | $0.34 |
| EL | Estee Lauder Companies Inc. | 1.2% | 8/29/2016 | $0.30 |
| EMN | Eastman Chemical Company | 2.7% | 9/13/2016 | $0.43 |
| FAF | First American Financial Corp. | 2.4% | 9/06/2016 | $0.26 |
| FHN | First Horizon National Corp. | 1.7% | 9/07/2016 | $0.07 |
| FLO | Flowers Foods Inc. | 3.9% | 8/31/2016 | $0.16 |
| GLW | Corning Inc. | 2.2% | 8/29/2016 | $0.14 |
| GNC | GNC Holdings Inc. | 3.8% | 9/14/2016 | $0.18 |
| HBAN | Huntington Bancshares Inc. | 2.8% | 9/15/2016 | $0.07 |
| HD | Home Depot Inc. | 1.9% | 8/30/2016 | $0.69 |
| HIG | Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. | 2.1% | 8/30/2016 | $0.23 |
| IPG | Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. | 2.3% | 8/30/2016 | $0.15 |
| IR | Ingersoll-Rand Plc | 1.8% | 9/07/2016 | $0.32 |
| KSS | Kohl’s Corp. | 4.2% | 9/02/2016 | $0.50 |
| LANC | Lancaster Colony Corp. | 1.5% | 9/07/2016 | $0.50 |
| LEA | Lear Corp. | 1.0% | 8/30/2016 | $0.28 |
| LMT | Lockheed Martin Corp. | 2.5% | 8/30/2016 | $1.65 |
| LVS | Las Vegas Sands Corp. | 5.3% | 9/20/2016 | $0.71 |
| NOC | Northrop Grumman Corp. | 1.5% | 8/25/2016 | $0.90 |
| OMC | Omnicom Group Inc | 2.4% | 9/20/2016 | $0.55 |
| PFG | Principal Financial Group Inc. | 3.3% | 8/31/2016 | $0.40 |
| QCOM | QUALCOMM Inc. | 3.1% | 8/29/2016 | $0.53 |
| RAI | Reynolds American Inc. | 3.1% | 9/08/2016 | $0.46 |
| RE | Everest Re Group, Ltd. | 2.3% | 9/02/2016 | $1.15 |
| SNI | Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. | 1.5% | 8/29/2016 | $0.26 |
| TRV | Travelers Companies Inc. | 2.1% | 9/07/2016 | $0.67 |
| TSO | Tesoro Corp. | 2.6% | 8/29/2016 | $0.54 |
| TWX | Time Warner Inc. | 1.9% | 8/29/2016 | $0.40 |
| UNH | UnitedHealth Group Inc. | 1.5% | 9/07/2016 | $0.62 |
| VFC | V.F. Corp. | 2.2% | 9/07/2016 | $0.37 |
| WLK | Westlake Chemical Corp. | 1.4% | 8/31/2016 | $0.16 |
| WOR | Worthington Industries Inc. | 1.8% | 9/13/2016 | $0.20 |
| WU | Western Union Company | 3.0% | 9/14/2016 | $0.16 |
| Ticker | Company Name | Dividend Yield | Ex-Dividend | Payment |
| AIG | American International Group Inc. | 2.0% | 9/13/2016 | $0.32 |
| ALB | Albemarle Corp. | 1.4% | 9/13/2016 | $0.29 |
| ASB | Associated Banc-Corp | 2.2% | 8/30/2016 | $0.11 |
| BDX | Becton, Dickinson and Company | 1.5% | 9/07/2016 | $0.66 |
| BR | Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. | 1.8% | 9/13/2016 | $0.33 |
| BWA | BorgWarner Inc. | 1.5% | 8/30/2016 | $0.13 |
| CATY | Cathay General Bancorp | 2.2% | 8/30/2016 | $0.18 |
| CBS | CBS Corp. | 1.2% | 9/07/2016 | $0.17 |
| DKS | Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. | 1.0% | 9/07/2016 | $0.15 |
| DPS | Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. | 2.1% | 9/09/2016 | $0.51 |
| ECL | Ecolab Inc. | 1.1% | 9/16/2016 | $0.35 |
| ENH | Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. | 2.2% | 9/14/2016 | $0.37 |
| FDS | FactSet Research Systems Inc. | 1.0% | 8/29/2016 | $0.50 |
| GS | Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | 1.6% | 8/30/2016 | $0.70 |
| HSNI | HSN Inc. | 3.2% | 9/02/2016 | $0.35 |
| HUBB | Hubbell Inc. | 2.3% | 8/29/2016 | $0.63 |
| ICE | Intercontinental Exchange Inc. | 1.1% | 9/14/2016 | $0.85 |
| IFF | International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. | 1.6% | 9/22/2016 | $0.61 |
| JWN | Nordstrom Inc. | 2.8% | 8/25/2016 | $0.37 |
| KAR | KAR Auction Services Inc. | 2.7% | 9/19/2016 | $0.29 |
| KMB | Kimberly-Clark Corp. | 2.8% | 9/07/2016 | $0.92 |
| KO | Coca-Cola Company | 3.1% | 9/13/2016 | $0.34 |
| MSI | Motorola Solutions Inc. | 2.1% | 9/13/2016 | $0.41 |
| NAVI | Navient Corp | 4.5% | 8/31/2016 | $0.17 |
| NDAQ | Nasdaq Inc. | 1.5% | 9/14/2016 | $0.32 |
| PEP | PepsiCo Inc. | 2.6% | 8/31/2016 | $0.74 |
| PF | Pinnacle Foods Inc. | 2.0% | 8/26/2016 | $0.27 |
| PH | Parker-Hannifin Corp. | 2.0% | 8/25/2016 | $0.64 |
| PII | Polaris Industries Inc. | 2.3% | 8/30/2016 | $0.56 |
| PX | Praxair Inc. | 2.4% | 9/06/2016 | $0.75 |
| RF | Regions Financial Corp. | 2.5% | 9/07/2016 | $0.07 |
| RNR | RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. | 1.0% | 9/13/2016 | $0.31 |
| SCI | Service Corp. International | 1.8% | 9/13/2016 | $0.13 |
| SEE | Sealed Air Corp. | 1.2% | 8/31/2016 | $0.16 |
| SLGN | Silgan Holdings Inc. | 1.4% | 8/30/2016 | $0.17 |
| STI | SunTrust Banks Inc. | 2.2% | 8/29/2016 | $0.26 |
| TXRH | Texas Roadhouse Inc. | 1.6% | 9/12/2016 | $0.19 |
| UNP | Union Pacific Corp. | 2.3% | 8/29/2016 | $0.57 |
| VR | Validus Holdings, Ltd. | 2.7% | 9/13/2016 | $0.35 |
| WEN | Wendy’s Company | 2.4% | 8/30/2016 | $0.06 |
| WRI | Weingarten Realty Investors | 3.5% | 9/06/2016 | $0.37 |
| Ticker | Company Name | Dividend Yield | Ex-Dividend | Payment |
| ADP | Automatic Data Processing Inc. | 2.3% | 9/07/2016 | $0.52 |
| ALL | Allstate Corp. | 1.8% | 8/29/2016 | $0.33 |
| AVT | Avnet Inc. | 1.6% | 9/02/2016 | $0.18 |
| BAC | Bank of America Corp. | 1.3% | 8/31/2016 | $0.08 |
| BAX | Baxter International Inc. | 1.0% | 8/31/2016 | $0.13 |
| BLK | BlackRock Inc. | 2.4% | 8/31/2016 | $2.29 |
| BOH | Bank of Hawaii Corp. | 2.6% | 8/29/2016 | $0.48 |
| CBOE | CBOE Holdings Inc. | 1.4% | 8/31/2016 | $0.25 |
| CBSH | Commerce Bancshares Inc. | 1.8% | 9/07/2016 | $0.23 |
| CHS | Chico’s FAS Inc. | 2.7% | 9/08/2016 | $0.11 |
| CINF | Cincinnati Financial Corp. | 2.5% | 9/19/2016 | $0.48 |
| CME | CME Group Inc. | 2.1% | 9/07/2016 | $0.60 |
| CNK | Cinemark Holdings Inc. | 2.7% | 8/29/2016 | $0.27 |
| CR | Crane Co. | 2.0% | 8/29/2016 | $0.33 |
| CSX | CSX Corp. | 2.5% | 8/29/2016 | $0.19 |
| D | Dominion Resources Inc. | 3.6% | 8/31/2016 | $0.70 |
| DOV | Dover Corp. | 2.3% | 8/29/2016 | $0.43 |
| DTE | DTE Energy Company | 3.1% | 9/15/2016 | $0.77 |
| FLR | Fluor Corp. | 1.6% | 8/31/2016 | $0.21 |
| ITT | ITT Inc. | 1.3% | 9/07/2016 | $0.12 |
| KSU | Kansas City Southern | 1.3% | 9/08/2016 | $0.30 |
| LEG | Leggett & Platt, Inc. | 2.5% | 9/13/2016 | $0.34 |
| MCD | McDonald’s Corp. | 3.1% | 8/30/2016 | $0.89 |
| NTRS | Northern Trust Corp. | 2.1% | 8/31/2016 | $0.38 |
| PSA | Public Storage | 3.1% | 9/12/2016 | $1.77 |
| SR | Spire Inc. | 2.9% | 9/08/2016 | $0.50 |
| STE | STERIS Plc | 1.4% | 8/26/2016 | $0.28 |
| SWK | Stanley Black & Decker Inc. | 1.8% | 8/31/2016 | $0.59 |
| TGNA | TEGNA Inc. | 2.6% | 9/07/2016 | $0.14 |
| TIF | Tiffany & Co. | 2.4% | 9/16/2016 | $0.42 |
| XL | XL Group Ltd | 2.4% | 9/13/2016 | $0.21 |
| Ticker | Company Name | Dividend Yield | Ex-Dividend | Payment |
| AEE | Ameren Corp. | 3.3% | 9/06/2016 | $0.43 |
| AJG | Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. | 3.1% | 8/31/2016 | $0.38 |
| ANF | Abercrombie & Fitch Co. | 3.5% | 8/31/2016 | $0.20 |
| AVA | Avista Corp. | 3.2% | 8/30/2016 | $0.34 |
| CFR | Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. | 3.0% | 8/29/2016 | $0.54 |
| CMA | Comerica Inc. | 1.9% | 9/13/2016 | $0.23 |
| COH | Coach Inc. | 3.4% | 9/08/2016 | $0.34 |
| FRT | Federal Realty Investment Trust | 2.4% | 9/20/2016 | $0.98 |
| HPQ | HP Inc. | 3.8% | 9/12/2016 | $0.13 |
| IRM | Iron Mountain Inc. | 5.1% | 9/08/2016 | $0.49 |
| K | Kellogg Company | 2.4% | 8/30/2016 | $0.52 |
| MCY | Mercury General Corp. | 4.7% | 9/13/2016 | $0.62 |
| MRK | Merck & Co. Inc. | 2.9% | 9/13/2016 | $0.45 |
| NBR | Nabors Industries Ltd. | 2.4% | 9/09/2016 | $0.06 |
| NEE | NextEra Energy Inc. | 2.6% | 8/26/2016 | $0.86 |
| OMI | Owens & Minor Inc. | 3.0% | 9/13/2016 | $0.26 |
| POR | Portland General Electric Company | 2.9% | 9/22/2016 | $0.32 |
| RGC | Regal Entertainment Group | 4.1% | 8/31/2016 | $0.22 |
| RLI | RLI Corp. | 1.1% | 8/29/2016 | $0.20 |
| RYN | Rayonier Inc. | 3.7% | 9/14/2016 | $0.25 |
| SCG | SCANA Corp. | 3.1% | 9/08/2016 | $0.57 |
| UMBF | UMB Financial Corp. | 1.7% | 9/07/2016 | $0.25 |
| Ticker | Company Name | Dividend Yield | Ex-Dividend | Payment |
| APC | Anadarko Petroleum Corp. | 1.2% | 9/12/2016 | $0.06 |
| CXP | Columbia Property Trust Inc. | 5.1% | 8/30/2016 | $0.30 |
| DLR | Digital Realty Trust Inc. | 3.4% | 9/13/2016 | $0.88 |
| DVN | Devon Energy Corp. | 1.8% | 9/13/2016 | $0.06 |
| EQY | Equity One Inc. | 2.8% | 9/14/2016 | $0.22 |
| FIS | Fidelity National Information Services | 1.3% | 9/14/2016 | $0.25 |
| FNB | F.N.B. Corp. | 3.9% | 8/30/2016 | $0.12 |
| HAL | Halliburton Company | 1.5% | 9/02/2016 | $0.18 |
| MDP | Meredith Corp. | 3.5% | 8/29/2016 | $0.50 |
| MTB | M&T Bank Corp. | 2.4% | 8/30/2016 | $0.71 |
| NOV | National Oilwell Varco Inc. | 4.0% | 9/14/2016 | $0.05 |
| NWL | Newell Brands Inc | 1.4% | 8/29/2016 | $0.19 |
| O | Realty Income Corp. | 3.5% | 8/30/2016 | $0.60 |
| OXY | Occidental Petroleum Corp. | 3.9% | 9/07/2016 | $0.76 |
| PTEN | Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. | 1.5% | 9/06/2016 | $0.02 |
| ROIC | Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. | 3.2% | 9/13/2016 | $0.18 |
| RPAI | Retail Properties of America Inc. | 4.0% | 9/22/2016 | $0.17 |
| SLB | Schlumberger NV | 2.4% | 9/02/2016 | $0.50 |
| TAP | Molson Coors Brewing Company | 1.7% | 8/29/2016 | $0.43 |
| TDS | Telephone and Data Systems Inc. | 2.0% | 9/14/2016 | $0.15 |
| WRE | Washington Real Estate Investment Trust | 3.7% | 9/13/2016 | $0.30 |
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