Dividend investing is popular again. Investors have taken to heart Jeremy Siegel's studies, which show that higher-yielding stocks tend to offer greater returns over time than low- or no-yield stocks.
The highest dividend yields can be very tantalizing. As long as a stock yielding 15% doesn't lose value, you'll make 15% in one year! In more cases than not, however, an astronomical yield is a bad sign for a stock. Since dividend yields and stock prices move in opposite directions, a high yield usually means that investors have begun to worry about the business, and driven down its stock price.
However, certain types of companies, such as REITs have to pay out most of their income as dividends, so their yields will be higher than "normal." Dividends are not guaranteed; you need to make sure that a business is generating enough cash to pay its dividend, or your investment could be disastrous.
I'm touring the market to screen for the highest-yielding stocks in each category. Today, we're looking at the market as a whole, screening for stocks with a market cap greater than $400 million.
Here are the top 25 highest yielding stocks the screen produced:
|
Rank |
Company |
Market Cap
|
Dividend
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
American Capital Agency |
$956 |
19.9% |
|
2 |
Chimera Investment |
$3,444 |
17.5% |
|
3 |
Annaly Capital Management |
$10,810 |
15.5% |
|
4 |
Hatteras Financial |
$1,112 |
14.8% |
|
5 |
Invesco Mortgage Capital. |
$542 |
14.3% |
|
6 |
Anworth Mortgage Asset |
$843 |
14.2% |
|
7 |
Cellcom Israel |
$2,857 |
13.3% |
|
8 |
Partner Communications |
$2,749 |
12.8% |
|
9 |
Prospect Capital |
$710 |
12.2% |
|
10 |
Capstead Mortgage |
$844 |
12.1% |
|
11 |
BlackRock Kelso Capital |
$708 |
11.9% |
|
12 |
Solar Capital |
$672 |
11.9% |
|
13 |
Telecom Corp. of New Zealand |
$2,879 |
11.5% |
|
14 |
Walter Investment Management |
$459 |
11.3% |
|
15 |
Teekay Tankers. |
$598 |
10.9% |
|
16 |
Provident Energy Trust |
$1,777 |
10.4% |
|
17 |
Encore Energy Partners |
$846 |
10.4% |
|
18 |
MFA Financial |
$2,059 |
10.4% |
|
19 |
BGC Partners |
$498 |
10.3% |
|
20 |
Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP |
$630 |
10.2% |
|
21 |
Terra Nitrogen |
$1,758 |
9.9% |
|
22 |
Frontier Communications |
$7,668 |
9.8% |
|
23 |
SeaDrill Limited |
$10,087 |
9.8% |
|
24 |
Frontline |
$2,453 |
9.6% |
|
25 |
Alaska Communications Systems Group |
$408 |
9.6% |
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.
These stocks are a good place to start your research, but they're not formal recommendations. Remember, their seemingly irresistible yields could be ticking time bombs, so do your own due diligence. Also, make sure you diversify your picks across various sectors. As investors relearn every decade years or so, you never want to put all your eggs in one basket -- no matter how tempting the dividends are.
Interested in any of these stocks? Hungry for more? If you want more thoroughly vetted suggestions, check out Jordan DiPietro's "The Best Dividend Stock. Period." or Jim Royal's "Dividend Play for a Lifetime."
