Dividends have been out of fashion for a while. For many years, low and still falling interest rates devalued income producing assets as great returns were to be had on growth stocks. Even this year, with rates moving back to historical norms, growth has been king, but if you are investing for the long term, it is important to understand that that is a trend, part of the cyclicality of markets, but that tried and tested strategies are still your friend. The importance of dividends is one of them.
A study a while back by Hartford Funds revealed something that will probably surprise most investors, and especially those new to the game. From 1960 to 2021 just over 40% of the total gains in stocks were attributable to dividends. That is a huge potential percentage gain that you as an investor would be giving up if the dividend yield of your portfolio isn’t at least around the average for a broad index like the S&P 500. Given the popularity of growth stocks that often don’t pay a dividend at all, I would hazard a guess that this is the case for most investors right now.
With some uncertainty around what the rest of this year will bring for the stock market, now is a good time to redress that imbalance by adding some solid dividend paying stocks to your portfolio. The fact that they have been out of favor for a while means that there is some value to be had in a conventional sense too, so you are not necessarily sacrificing capital growth when you add dividend payers to your holdings. Here are three stocks to consider if you are thinking of doing that:
1. 3M Company (MMM): 3M, best known as the maker of household first aid and adhesive products, has been around since 1902, which is remarkable longevity for a manufacturing company. The stock has dropped more than thirty percent over the last year, though, and not just because of the trend towards growth. They were very hard hit by the post-pandemic supply chain issues which revealed some weaknesses in that area.
That has called into question whether or not the company can continue its 64 year tradition of increasing dividends, but history shows that they have maintained that through much tougher times than this, so probably will this time, too. At current levels the forward dividend yield is right around 6% and a forward P/E below 12 indicates the possibility of capital appreciation to boot.
2. Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD): Energy is a traditional sector in which to look for dividend yield, but the inexorable move away from fossil fuels makes stocks in the industry less attractive from a long-term perspective. However, Pioneer’s balance of oil and natural gas gives them some degree of future proofing, and a forward dividend yield of around 7% is extremely attractive. In this case, too, there is also a good chance of some capital appreciation. PXD is currently trading at a forward P/E of just over 11, with a PEG ratio of around 0.75 when projected growth is factored in.
3. United Parcel Services (UPS): UPS is another company with a history of growing dividends, although their stretch of doing so only dates back around fourteen years. The yield here is not as high, at around 3.7% on a forward basis, but the long-term prospects of the company in a world that is still making the transition to e-commerce adds some very long term prospects of appreciation makes that quite attractive.
These three stocks offer some diversification and long-term growth prospects, so adding the yield doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t see capital growth over time. However, combining these three stocks with equal weight will give you a small portfolio of dividend payers, with a combined yield of just over 5%, more than enough for you, with reinvested dividends, to take advantage of that 40% of portfolio growth that comes from dividend payers.
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/3-stocks-to-increase-your-dividend-yield
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