Why Dividend Cuts May Be a Good Thing for Investors

Life isn’t perfect and for whatever reason, we purchase stocks we shouldn’t have bought, lured in by the high yield, or still hang on to stocks we should have sold. Investor confidence in a company can be sudden and swift. In the case of TransAlta Corp (TA) for example (which I don’t own) this was pointed out in a recent post by John Heinzl. Management decisions over the sale of the  Sundance coal plants, and the looming threat of a dividend cut have pummelled the stock price. TA closed at $16.81 per share today, down -20.5% from a recent high …

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What Is a Good Dividend Payout Ratio for Investors

Portions of this article were originally published in the Canadian MoneySaver, and it is posted here with permission. For more information visit www.canadianmoneysaver.ca Many dividend investors go to great lengths to screen dividend stocks. If you stick with the big dividend aristocrats or other big blue chips, you will do just fine. Some of these companies have been paying dividends for over 50 to 100 years! The economic stability of a company like that, which also increases its dividends year after year, is money in the bank. This is what most dividend investors look for, and it is the basis …

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Four Key Dividend Metrics You Need to Know

This article was published in the May 2014 edition of the Canadian MoneySaver, and is posted here with permission. For more information visit www.canadianmoneysaver.ca Although dividend investing can seem overwhelming and complicated, it really doesn’t need to be. Nor do you need to be a financial professional or CPA to make sense of it all. A few red-flags to watch out for, as well as specific ratios to look at, will help you buy a dividend titan instead of a dividend dud. Here are four key dividend metrics I look at, when initially screening dividend stocks: Dividend Yield The dividend …

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Four Quadrants for a Better Understanding of Your Portfolio

The Dividend Guy has been very generous. He has provided me an excellent guest post for you over on The Dividend Pig. The post is from a chapter of his new eBook, and is titled: Four Quadrants for a Better Understanding of Your Portfolio. It’s a great post with an easy to use analysis that will help you become a better investor. It will help you become more informed about the dividend stocks you purchase. That analysis involves the use of quadrants. The material comes from Mike’s new eBook, Dividend Growth: Freedom Through Passive Income. In this article, Mike uses …

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