The Top Dividend Stocks

Investors often turn to dividend-paying stocks to give a boost to their investment portfolios. Morningstar originally conducted this same search for top dividend payers in October 2012. If you compare this group of 20 companies to October's group, you'll see that dividend yields are now lower for most companies because their share prices have been rising as the markets have rallied.

“Ultra-high dividend yields (8%+) can be particularly attractive in this low-return environment, but it’s important to resist the temptation to load up on these shares,” says Wenning. “Most ultra-high yields are simply too good to be true and are more often a product of a poor outlook for the company than a generous dividend policy. Indeed, a recent study by Société Générale found that ‘an abnormally high yield is generally a sign of distress’ and showed that groups of shares in the ultra-high yield categories are more likely to have lower realised yields.”

Source: Morningstar

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