Market Insider

CONTRIBUTORS

Herb Greenberg
Senior Stocks Commentator
Bob Pisani
On-Air Stocks Editor
Sharon Epperson
Senior Commodities Correspondent and Personal Finance Correspondent
Rick Santelli
On-Air Editor
Lori Spechler
Senior Editor at CNBC, commodity trader in a former life.
Karina Frayter
CNBC Markets Producer
Peter Schacknow
Senior Producer at CNBC's Breaking News Desk.
Gennine Kelly
Website Producer at CNBC.

RSS FEED

» Help

Subscribe to this RSS feed
Stay up to date with the Market Insider blog.

Stocks with Good Track Records as Dividend Payers

Published: Tuesday, 14 Feb 2012 | 1:45 PM ET

Text Size

By: Patti Domm
CNBC Executive News Editor

Bespoke Investment Group crunched the numbers and found a list of stocks that it sees as relatively safe dividend plays.

Money tree being watered. Taking care of your finances.
iStock

Bespoke screened the S&P 500 [.SPX Loading... () ] last week , looking for companies that have consistently raised dividends for at least 10 years. They also looked for companies that yield more than 2.5 percent and are paying out less than half of estimated earnings for the current year.

Bespoke co-founder Paul Hickey, on "Street Signs" Tuesday, says stocks that have built a reputation for consistently paying dividends are a relatively safe place to look for yield.

“While they aren’t necessarily glamorous names, they are companies that have managed to raise their dividends even during one of the worst economic calamities in more than a generation. Investors who are on the sidelines looking to gain equity exposure, are probably unlikely to go right into high growth names, so these stocks provide a good area of the pool to dip their foot in,” notes Hickey, who did the screen.

“What I would say about these stocks is if you have 20 percent year in the market, they’re probably going to underperform the market, but if you have a down year, they’re going to outperform. They’re almost like fixed income equities,” he said. “…Also they were able to raise dividends through 2007, 2008, 2009. They were able to navigate through those years. They are pretty solid companies.”

Hickey says it seems more companies are raising dividends this year.

“Compared to the last three years, I think we’re going to see much more in the way of dividend raises. There’s more clarity out there. There’s a general view that the worst is behind us. Most people would think that companies have a little bit more visibility now. With increased visibility, they’ll be more likely to part with some of their cash,” said Hickey.

The companies Hickey found that met his criteria are listed below. He said utilities have the best reputation as dividend raisers, but what he in fact found was that the consistent payers came from a diverse group of industries.

Bespoke’s List: