The Best Dividend Paying Stocks From The S&P 500

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Best Dividend Paying Stocks From The S&P 500 Index Researched By “long-term-investments.blogspot.com“. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is of huge importance for investors and the capital market. The index is one of the most used instruments for the asset allocation and reflects the mood at the market. The index has over USD 5.58 trillion benchmarked, with index assets comprising approximately USD 1.31 trillion of this total. The index includes 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy, capturing 75 percent coverage of U.S. equities.

The index also captures the best dividend paying companies in the world. From 500 stocks, 401 pay great dividends and 132 yielding over three percent. I made a small screen of the best dividend paying stocks within the index. I selected stocks with a yield over two percent, an earnings per share growth for the next five years of more than ten percent yearly and an operating margin above 15 percent. In order to get companies with low debt and high potential for growth or dividend hikes, the debt to equity ratio should be under 0.5. Seventeen companies fulfilled my criteria of which thirteen have a buy or better rating.

Here are my favorite stocks:

CME Group (CME) has a market capitalization of $18.24 billion. The company employs 2,740 people, generates revenue of $3,280.60 million and has a net income of $1,814.40 million. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $2,281.60 million. The EBITDA margin is 69.55 percent (operating margin 61.61 percent and net profit margin 55.31 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 5.17 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 9.78 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 8.71 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $4.74. Last fiscal year, the company paid $1.12 in form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 11.59, P/S ratio 5.56 and P/B ratio 0.84. Dividend Yield: 3.28 percent. The beta ratio is 1.12.

AFLAC Incorporated (AFL) has a market capitalization of $21.62 billion. The company employs 8,562 people, generates revenue of $22,171.00 million and has a net income of $1,964.00 million. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $6,761.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 30.49 percent (operating margin 13.50 percent and net profit margin 8.86 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 2.81 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 24.32 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 15.99 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $5.46. Last fiscal year, the company paid $1.23 in form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 8.45, P/S ratio 0.98 and P/B ratio 1.59. Dividend Yield: 2.86 percent. The beta ratio is 1.84.

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has a market capitalization of $27.80 billion. The company employs 65,000 people, generates revenue of $17,786.58 million and has a net income of $2,017.01 million. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $3,320.68 million. The EBITDA margin is 18.67 percent (operating margin 15.35 percent and net profit margin 11.34 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 22.19 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 39.83 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 20.60 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.98. Last fiscal year, the company paid $1.40 in form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 14.90, P/S ratio 1.56 and P/B ratio 2.86. Dividend Yield: 2.56 percent. The beta ratio is 1.16.

Tiffany (TIF) has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion. The company employs 9,800 people, generates revenue of $3,642.94 million and has a net income of $439.19 million. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $858.55 million. The EBITDA margin is 23.57 percent (operating margin 19.45 percent and net profit margin 12.06 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 17.12 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 30.32 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 19.41 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.44. Last fiscal year, the company paid $1.12 in form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 18.00, P/S ratio 2.15 and P/B ratio 3.34. Dividend Yield: 2.07 percent. The beta ratio is 1.80.

Take a closer look at the full table of the best dividend paying stocks from the S&P 500. The average price to earnings ratio (P/E ratio) amounts to 19.83 and forward P/E ratio is 12.89. The dividend yield has a value of 2.86 percent. Price to book ratio is 2.90 and price to sales ratio 3.12. The operating margin amounts to 28.47 percent and the beta ratio is 1.15. The average stock has a debt to equity ratio of 0.24.

Selected Articles:
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· The Best Dogs Of The Dow Jones As Of August 2012
· Cheapest Large Caps With Highest Expected Growth As Of August 2012
· 14 Of The Hottest Dividend Stocks Within The S&P 500
· A Brief Overview Of High Yield Stocks From The S&P 500