A Great Opportunity For These Dividend Stocks

A company that posts disappointing earnings results can present a good buying opportunity for income investors. The reason for this is that companies miss analyst earnings estimates for all kinds of reasons, many of which unrelated to the fundamentals of the business. Yet, in most cases, the earnings miss automatically triggers a share price decline, even if it's temporary. Quite often, poor earnings results correctly predict that a firm's performance is weakening, but there are many other companies whose earnings miss is simply not that meaningful.

That is the case for many asset-based businesses such as utilities, oil and gas companies and real estate investment trusts (REITs), where cash flow is a much better predictor of success than earnings. As long as the company's cash flow is growing as fast or faster than the dividend, these stocks are solid income plays that become even more appealing when an earnings miss takes their price lower. Here are three high-yielding stocks that recently took a beating in the market because of earnings misses: Northwest Natural Gas Co. (NYSE: NWN)
Yield: 4%, Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO) Yield: 5% and Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC) Yield: 5%.

Source: Street Authority

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