It seems as though interest rates are going to be staying quite low, at least for the foreseeable future, which means investors should get used to paltry returns from treasuries and their favorite FDIC-insured savings accounts.
In order to battle those low yields, investors have one great investing advantage working in their favor: dividend yields look extraordinarily high right now. In addition, it seems like dividends are coming back in vogue, as their potential for growth as well as income are enticing investors back to the table.
In order to help you in your quest for high returns, I've ran a screen for telecom companies that trade on U.S. exchanges, that have a market cap of at least $300 million, and that pay a solid dividend. Below are the highest 25 yielders, in rank order:
|
Company |
Dividend Yield |
Market Cap (billions) |
|---|---|---|
|
Cellcom Israel (NYSE: CEL) |
13.3% |
$2.84 |
|
Partner Communications (Nasdaq: PTNR) |
12.7% |
$2.63 |
|
Tele Norte Leste Participacoes (NYSE: TNE) |
12.5% |
$5.36 |
|
Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo (NYSE: TSP) |
12.3% |
$10.40 |
|
Telecom of New Zealand (NYSE: NZT) |
11.6% |
$2.76 |
|
Magyar Telekom (NYSE: MTA) |
11% |
$3.14 |
|
Frontier Communications (NYSE: FTR) |
9.6% |
$7.58 |
|
AlaskaCommunication Systems (Nasdaq: ALSK) |
9.4% |
$0.40 |
|
Consolidated Communications (Nasdaq: CNSL) |
9.1% |
$0.50 |
|
Philippine Long Distance (NYSE: PHI) |
8.9% |
$10.11 |
|
Windstream (NYSE: WIN) |
8.7% |
$5.49 |
|
FranceTelecom (NYSE: FTE) |
8.6% |
$54.88 |
|
Hellenic Telecommunications (NYSE: OTE) |
8.2% |
$3.84 |
|
CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) |
8% |
$10.92 |
|
Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) |
7.9% |
$102.26 |
|
Portugal Telecom (NYSE: PT) |
6.7% |
$9.61 |
|
NTELOS Holdings (Nasdaq: NTLS) |
6.6% |
$0.69 |
|
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) |
6.3% |
$83.56 |
|
AT&T (NYSE: T) |
6.2% |
$156.88 |
|
Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE: CHT) |
5.7% |
$19.43 |
|
BCE, Inc. (NYSE: BCE) |
5.7% |
$23.24 |
|
Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) |
5.6% |
$9.81 |
|
Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) |
5.4% |
$124.39 |
|
City Telecom HK (Nasdaq: CTEL) |
5.3% |
$0.42 |
|
Telefonos de Mexico (NYSE: TMX) |
5.2% |
$13.68 |
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.
While these stocks are a great place to start your research, don't forget to do your own due diligence. Dividends are a fantastic investment, but they can also be dangerous -- remember to check out payout ratios and the debt profile of each company to help ensure whatever investment you make will pan out over the long-run.
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