Investor’s Alert -WESTERN UNION CO (NYSE:WU), PPL CORP (NYSE:PPL), SUNSTONE HOTEL INVESTORS INC (NYSE:SHO), COPART INC (NASDAQ:CPRT), AETNA INC. (NYSE:AET)
Investors looking to grow long term wealth should devote at least some of their portfolio to companies that pay dividends. But how do you choose which ones to add to your portfolio? If you are looking for dividend paying stocks, the most reliable companies to add to your portfolio are those that don’t just pay dividends, but that raise them regularly.
Public companies and their boards typically start issuing regular dividend payments to common shareholders once their companies have reached a significant size and level of stability. Often, young, fast-growing companies prefer not to pay dividends, opting instead to re-invest their retained earnings into their business operations, compounding their growth and thus the book value of their shares over time. However, once a company does decide to start paying a specified amount of money to shareholders in the form of regular cash dividends, its stock usually trades with a little less price volatility in the market.
These companies have long track records of creating long-term value for shareholders.
WESTERN UNION has been paying dividends since 2006 and has raised their dividend for 2 consecutive years. It has a dividend yield of 3.70% and a 5 year dividend growth rate of 3.00%. Their payout ratio is 139.00%.
PPL first paid dividend in 1946 and has increased their dividend for 17 straight years. They have a dividend yield of 4.00% and a 5 year dividend growth rate of 5.00%.
SUNSTONE HOTEL has been paying dividends since 2004 and has increased their dividend for 3 years in a row. Their dividend yield is 1.30% and their 5 year dividend growth rate is 0.00%.
COPART started paying dividend in N/A and has lifted their dividend for N/A years. Their dividend yield is N/A and their 5 year dividend growth rate is N/A.
AETNA announced dividend for the first time in 2001 and has increased their dividend every year for the last 0 years. Their dividend yield is 1.40% and their 5 year dividend growth rate is 1.00%.