3 Stocks With Large, Growing Dividends
(Smart Money) — Each of the three stocks below has a dividend yield of around 5%. A yield that large is rare, but only by modern standards. The S&P 500 index of large American companies has a yield of just over 2%. Fewer than one in 10 of its members pays more than 5%. Over two centuries ended 2002, however, U.S. shares offered an average dividend yield of 4.9%. The stock market’s recent performance underscores the importance of dividends. The S&P 500 index currently trades close to its level of 12 years ago. An investor who goes a dozen years without price gains while using a 5% dividend yield to buy more shares ends up with a profit of more than 80%, thanks to the power of compounding payments.
