Dividend Aristocrats Can Still Provide High Income
Avi Morris submits:During these times with low interest rates, it's difficult to find decent yields for investment. Dividend Aristocrats (companies with a minimum of 25 consecutive years of higher annual dividends) are an excellent place to look. But yields have fallen, making it difficult to find yields over 4%. Below are 5 Dividend Aristocrats for consideration. (1) Eli Lilly (LLY) -- LLY is one of the largest, global pharmaceutical companies. Its yield has been high (above 5%) for months because it faces patent expiration on key drugs. So stockholders have to wait for FDA approval which creates uncertainty. Just today (April 20), the FDA called for a new study on the experimental diabetes drug Bydureon (delaying its approval) which LLY developed with another company! Because of uncertainty, LLY has been very cautious about increasing its dividend. This week the 49¢ dividend was declared for Q4 (providing a 5.4% yield), the same paid for 8 consecutive quarters. Thus the annual dividend for 2010 (with good earnings coverage) of $1.96 will equal last year's and LLY will be removed from the group when S&P makes its annual review in December. But LLY has paid an annual dividend since 1885, has a strong balance sheet, substantial foreign sales and more drugs in the pipeline. Complete Story »
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