The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.98%) is a gold mine for long-term investors. It's particularly juicy if you're looking for high-quality income stocks, as these proven blue chips tend to deliver both high yields and reliable dividend growth. But there are stragglers in every herd, including this elite collection. Let me point out the three worst dividend stocks on the Dow today.
AA Dividend data by YCharts.
Bank of America (BAC -1.07%) is a horrible income stock right now, any way you slice it. No other Dow stock even comes close to its feeble 0.3% yield. Annual payouts have plunged 97% over the last decade, and regulators keep a heavy foot on B of A's throat to prevent the troubled bank from over-stretching its financial reserves. That financial crisis in 2008 wrought devastation on Bank of America's dividend appeal.
The second-thinnest dividend yield on the Dow is Walt Disney (DIS -1.01%). The company does like to boost its payout rates, but its share price climbs even faster. With annual payouts at just 1.2% of current share prices, the House of Mouse doesn't exactly invite you to lock in dividend rates with an opportunistic stock buy. As mature as Disney may be (the company was founded 90 years ago!), its shares behave more like a growth vehicle than a dividend stock right now.
Like Bank of America, Alcoa (AA) took the global crisis right on the chin. The aluminum producer was never the most generous dividend stock on the block, and it slashed payouts at the kneecaps in 2009. The results: A 10-year dividend reduction of 80% and an anemic 1.4% yield -- even though Alcoa's share price plunged right alongside its dividend.
