Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of satellite broadcasting services expert EchoStar
So what: EchoStar and sister company DISH Network
Now what: EchoStar is a pretty reliable cash machine, albeit one with large capital expenses to launch new satellites and stock up on set-top box inventories. But I still wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a huge dividend from this half of the Dish-EchoStar partnership, because the rising cash pile is balanced against an even larger debt load. If I were a shareholder, I'd rather see that capital structure rebalanced to a more comfortable debt level before getting into any fancy dividend plays.
If it's large and dependable yields you're after, you'd do much better in the neighboring telecom sector, where you'll find top payers such as Frontier Communications
Interested in more info about EchoStar? Click here to add it to My Watchlist.