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Earlier this week, we wrote about the highest yielding stocks on the Dow. The S&P 500 also has some nice yielding stocks. If you are worried about the financials being able to continue to pay thier big dividends (with Freddie Mac's [FRE
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] big slide, its yield is now over 20%!), there are over 45 stocks on the S&P that are currently yielding 5% or more.
- Including FRE, Financials represent 8 of the top 10 yielding stocks and 48% of the stocks with yields over 5%.
- Utilities represent 17% of the highest yielding stocks and are often seen as a defensive play because of their reliable cash flows and these relatively safe returns. Ameren [AEE
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] leads the sector with a 6.0% yield.
- Following Utilities, are Telecom and Consumer Discretionary stocks representing 13% and 11% of the top yielding stocks. Qwest [Q
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] and Gannett [GCI
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] have yields over 8.5% each.
- The average yield of dividend paying stocks on the S&P 500 is 2.7%
Keep in mind, stocks facing a downturn could either end up cutting or eliminating dividends all together. Take General Motors [GM
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] for example. Their shares were yielding about 5% back in March, but have since suspended their dividend completely.
Here's the list of top yielding S&P stocks (as of the 8/19 close):
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Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes