Jay Kaplan of The Royce Funds’ On Dividends

When companies decide to pay a dividend, we see that as a commitment on their part. Companies almost never want to cut or eliminate dividends. I see dividends as more like a marriage than a date. It is easier to break up when you are dating than after you’re married. So when a company decides to pay a dividend, it is using one of its capital allocation tools.

If we just chased the highest dividends, it would probably lead us to companies under stress where the market doesn’t believe those dividends are sustainable, which would set us up for those dividends to be cut. Or it leads you into Master Limited Partnerships, REIT’s or Utilities, which are areas we tend to avoid, because, those companies often don’t meet our balance sheet and return on capital criteria. So we don’t hunt for the highest paying dividends we can find.

Source: ValueWalk.com


Related Articles:

• Rev-up Your Portfolio With Asset Allocation
• To Infinity and Beyond!
• Seeding A Forest Of Dividend Stocks
• 3 Styles Of Sucessful Dividend Investing
• Should You Still Buy-And-Hold Stocks?