5 Relatively Safe And Cheap Dividend Stocks To Invest In - August 2023

Author's Note: This is our monthly series on Dividend Stocks, usually published in the first week of every month. We scan the entire universe of roughly 7,500 stocks that are listed and traded on U.S. exchanges and use our proprietary filtering criteria to select five stocks that are relatively safe and maybe trading cheaper compared to their historical valuations. Some of the sections in the article, like "Selection Process/Methodology," are repeated each month with few changes. This is intentional as well as unavoidable, as this is necessary for the new readers to be able to conceptualize the process. Regular readers of this series could skip such sections to avoid repetitiveness.

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The market has been steadily moving up despite many challenges in the macroeconomic environment. In recent months, the recession fears have abated quite a bit, and many experts are now talking of a soft landing. In July, the core inflation numbers came below expectations. However, the Fed raised its short-term interest rates by 25 basis points in July. The market believes that the Fed will raise interest rates one more time before taking a pause. Inflation has been coming down, but probably not nearly enough for the Fed to feel comfortable. In spite of the high-interest rates, the economy is still chugging along with very low unemployment rates. Also, the problem of market breadth has resolved somewhat as well, and the stock market gains have started flowing to a wider section of companies in the S&P500. Nonetheless, the top seven tech stocks constitute nearly 28% of the S&P500, and some of these gains have been built on the AI hype.

Will the bull market continue? We don't know, but the good thing is we do not need to know. We believe it is not possible to catch the exact bottom (or the peak), so it is best to invest regularly and consistently in good, solid dividend-paying stocks when their valuations are attractive. Against this backdrop, it is important to keep some cash reserves and dry powder ready to deal with any scenario.

The main goal of this series of articles is to shortlist and highlight companies that have a solid history of paying and raising dividends. In addition, we demand that these companies support strong fundamentals, carry low debt, and are offered at a relatively cheaper valuation. These DGI stocks are not going to make anyone rich overnight, but if your goal is to attain financial freedom by owning stocks that would grow dividends over time, meaningfully and sustainably, then you are at the right place. These lists are not necessarily recommendations to buy but a shortlist of probable candidates for further research. The purpose is to keep our buy list handy and dry powder ready so we can use the opportunity when the time is right. Besides, every month, this analysis is able to highlight a few companies that otherwise would not be on our radar.

Every month, we start with roughly 7,500 stocks that are listed and traded on U.S. exchanges, including over-the-counter (OTC) networks. By using our filtering criteria, the initial list is quickly narrowed down to roughly 700 stocks, which are mostly dividend-paying and dividend-growing stocks. From thereon, by using various data elements, including dividend history, payout ratios, revenue growth, debt ratios, EPS growth, etc., we calculate a "Dividend Quality Score" for each stock that measures the relative safety and sustainability of the dividend. In addition to dividend safety, we also seek cheaper valuations. We also demand that the selected companies have an established business model, solid dividend history, manageable debt, and investment-grade credit rating.

This month, we highlight three groups with five stocks each that have an average dividend yield (as a group) of 2.83%, 5.37%, and 7.51%, respectively. The first list is for conservative and risk-averse investors, while the second one is for investors who seek higher yields but still want relatively safe dividends. The third group is for yield-hungry investors but comes with an elevated risk, and we urge investors to exercise caution.

Notes: 1) Please note that when we use the term "safe" in relation to stocks and investments, it should be interpreted as "relatively safe" because nothing is absolutely safe in investing. Even though we present only 5 to 10 stocks in our final list, one should have 15-20 stocks at a minimum in a well-diversified portfolio.

2) All tables in this article are created by the author unless explicitly specified. The stock data have been sourced from various sources such as Seeking Alpha, Yahoo Finance, GuruFocus, and CCC-List (drip investing).

The Selection Process

Note: Regular readers of this series could skip this section to avoid repetitiveness. However, we include this section for new readers to provide the necessary background and perspective.

Goals:

We start with a fairly simple goal. We want to shortlist five companies that are large-cap, relatively safe, dividend-paying, and trading at relatively cheaper valuations in comparison to the broader market. The objective is to highlight some of the dividend-paying and dividend-growing companies that may be offering juicy dividends due to a temporary decline in their share prices. The excess decline may be due to an industry-wide decline or some one-time setbacks like some negative news coverage or missing quarterly earnings expectations. We adopt a methodical approach to filter down the 7,500-plus companies into a small subset.

Our primary goal is income that should increase over time at a rate that at least beats inflation. Our secondary goal is to grow the capital and provide a cumulative growth rate of 9%-10% at a minimum. These goals are, by and large, in alignment with most retirees and income investors, as well as DGI investors. A balanced DGI portfolio should keep a mix of high-yield, low-growth stocks along with some high-growth but low-yield stocks. That said, how you mix the two will depend upon your personal situation, including income needs, time horizon, and risk tolerance.

A well-diversified portfolio would normally consist of more than just five stocks and preferably a few stocks from each sector of the economy. However, in this periodic series, we try to shortlist and highlight just five stocks that may fit the goals of most income and DGI investors. But at the same time, we try to ensure that such companies are trading at attractive or reasonable valuations. However, as always, we recommend you do your due diligence before making any decision on them.

Selection Criteria:

The S&P 500 currently yields less than 1.60%. Since our goal is to find companies for a dividend income portfolio, we should logically look for companies that pay yields that are at least similar to or better than the S&P 500. Of course, the higher, the better, but at the same time, we should not try to chase very high yields. If we try to filter for dividend stocks paying at least 1.50% or above, nearly 2,000 such companies are trading on U.S. exchanges, including OTC networks. We will limit our choices to companies that have a market cap of at least $10 billion and a daily trading volume of more than 100,000 shares. We also will check that dividend growth over the last five years is positive, but there can be some exceptions.

We also want stocks that are trading at relatively cheaper valuations. But at this stage, we want to keep our criteria broad enough to keep all the good candidates on the list. So, we will measure the distance from the 52-week high but save it to use at a later stage. Also, at this initial stage, we include all companies that yield 1% or higher. In addition, we also include other lower-yielding but high-quality companies at this stage.

Criteria to Shortlist:

• Market cap > $10 billion ($8 billion in a down market)
• Dividend yield > 1.0% (some exceptions are made to include high quality but lower yielding companies)
• Daily average volume > 100,000
• Dividend growth past five years >= 0.

By applying the above criteria, we got around 600 companies.

Narrowing Down the List

As a first step, we would like to eliminate stocks that have less than five years of dividend growth history. We cross-check our current list of over 600 stocks against the list of so-called Dividend Champions, Contenders, and Challengers originally defined and created by David Fish. Generally, the stocks with more than 25 years of dividend increases are called dividend Champions, while stocks with more than ten but less than 25 years of dividend increases are termed, Contenders. Further, stocks with more than five but less than ten years of dividend increases are called Challengers. Also, since we want a lot of flexibility and wider choice at this initial stage, we include some companies that pay dividends lower than 1.50% but otherwise have a stellar dividend record and growing dividends at a fast pace.

After we apply all the above criteria, we're left with 311 companies on our list. However, so far in this list, we have demanded five or more years of consistent dividend growth. But what if a company had a very stable record of dividend payments but did not increase the dividends from one year to another? At times, some of these companies are foreign-based companies, and due to currency fluctuations, their dividends may appear to have been cut in US dollars, but in reality, that may not be true at all when looked at in the actual currency of reporting. At times, we may provide some exceptions when a company may have cut the dividend in the past but otherwise looks compelling. So, by relaxing some of the conditions, a total of 78 additional companies were considered to be on our list. We call them category 'B' companies. After including them, we had a total of 389 (311 + 78) companies that made our first list.

We then imported the various data elements from many sources, including CCC-list, GuruFocus, Fidelity, Morningstar, and Seeking Alpha, among others, and assigned weights based on different criteria as listed below:

• Current yield: Indicates the yield based on the current price.
• Dividend growth history (number of years of dividend growth): This provides information on how many years a company has paid and increased dividends on a consistent basis. For stocks under the category 'B' (defined above), we consider the total number of consecutive years of dividends paid rather than the number of years of dividend growth.
• Payout ratio: This indicates how comfortably the company can pay the dividend from its earnings. We prefer this ratio to be as low as possible, which would indicate the company's ability to grow the dividend in the future. This ratio is calculated by dividing the dividend amount per share by the EPS (earnings per share). The cash-flow payout ratio is calculated by dividing the dividend amount paid per share by the cash flow generated per share.
• Past five-year and 10-year dividend growth: Even though it's the dividend growth rate from the past, this does indicate how fast the company has been able to grow its earnings and dividends in the recent past. The recent past is the best indicator that we have to know what to expect in the next few years.
• EPS growth (average of previous five years of growth and expected next five years' growth): As the earnings of a company grow, more than likely, dividends will grow accordingly. We will take into account the previous five years' actual EPS growth and the estimated EPS growth for the next five years. We will add the two numbers and assign weights.
• Chowder number: So, what's the Chowder number? This number has been named after well-known SA author Chowder, who first coined and popularized this factor. This number is derived by adding the current yield and the past five years' dividend growth rate. A Chowder number of "12" or more ("8" for utilities) is considered good.
• Debt/equity ratio: This ratio will tell us about the debt load of the company in relation to its equity. We all know that too much debt can lead to major problems, even for well-known companies. The lower this ratio, the better it is. Sometimes, we find this ratio to be negative or unavailable, even for well-known companies. This can happen for a myriad of reasons and is not always a reason for concern. This is why we use this ratio in combination with the debt/asset ratio (covered next).
• Debt/asset ratio: This ratio will tell us about the debt load in relation to the total assets of the company. In almost all cases, this ratio would be lower than the debt/equity ratio. Also, this ratio is important because, for some companies, the debt/equity ratio is not a reliable indicator.
• S&P's credit rating: This is the credit rating assigned by the rating agency S&P Global and is indicative of the company's ability to service its debt. This rating can be obtained from the S&P website.
• PEG ratio: This also is called the price/earnings-to-growth ratio. The PEG ratio is considered to be an indicator if the stock is overvalued, undervalued, or fairly priced. A lower PEG may indicate that a stock is undervalued. However, PEG for a company may differ significantly from one reported source to another, depending on which growth estimate is used in the calculation. Some use past growth, while others may use future expected growth. We're taking the PEG from the CCC list wherever available. The CCC list defines it as the price/earnings ratio divided by the five-year estimated growth rate.
• Distance from 52-week high: We want to select companies that are good, solid companies but also are trading at cheaper valuations currently. They may be cheaper due to some temporary down cycle or some combination of bad news or simply having a bad quarter. This criterion will help bring such companies (with a cheaper valuation) near the top as long as they excel in other criteria as well. This factor is calculated as (current price - 52-week high) / 52-week high.
• Sales or Revenue growth: This is the average growth rate in annual sales or revenue of the company over the last five years. A company can only grow its earnings power as long as it can grow its revenue. Sure, it can grow the earnings by cutting costs, but that can't go on forever.

Downloadable Dataset:

Below we provide a link to the table with relevant data on 384 stocks. Readers can download this table for further analysis. Please note that the table is sorted on the "Total Weight" or the "Initial Quality Score."

File-for-export_-_5_Safe_DGI_-_Aug_2023.xlsx.

Selection Of The Top 50

We will first bring down the list to roughly 50 names by automated criteria, as listed below. In the second step, which is mostly manual and subjective, we will bring the list down to about 15.

• Step 1: First, take the top 20 names from the above table (based on total weight or quality score). At times, some industry segments tend to get overcrowded at the top, so we take the top two and ignore the rest.
• Step 2: As a second step, we will take the top 10 names based on the highest dividend yield. When it comes to dividend yield, some of the industry segments tend to be overcrowded. So, we will take the top two (or max three) names from any single industry segment. We take the top 10 stocks after the sort to the final list.
• Step 3: Now, we will sort our list based on five-year dividend growth (highest at the top) and select the top 10 names.
• Step 4: We also want to give priority to stocks that are rated highest in terms of credit rating. So, we will sort the list based on the numerical weight of the credit rating and select the top 10 stocks with the best credit rating. Again, we are careful not to have too many names from the same sector.
• Step 5: Lastly, as the name of the series suggests, we want to have some names that may be trading cheaper in comparison to their historical valuation. So, we select the top ten names with the highest discount. However, they could be trading cheap for just the wrong reasons, so we need to be careful that they meet our other quality criteria.

From the above steps, we now have a total of 60 names in our final consideration. However, the following stocks appeared more than once:

Stocks that appeared two times:

ADP, ALB, CI, CVX, KEY, MSFT, NKE, PFE, TFC, V (10 duplicates).

After removing seven duplicates, we are left with 50 (60-10) names.

Since there are multiple names in each industry segment, we will keep a maximum of two or three names (from the top) from any one segment. The top names from each sector/industry segment are presented below:

Financial Services, Banking, and Insurance:

Banks- Regional: (TFC), (BNS), (KEY)

Banks- Major:

Financial Services - Others: (MS)

Insurance: (OTCQX:ZURVY)

Business Services/ Consulting:

(ADP), (V), (ACN)

Conglomerates:

(CSL)

Industrials:

(GWW), (CTAS)

Transportation/ Logistics:

(UPS)

Chemicals:

Materials/Mining/Gold:

Materials: (ALB)

Mining (other than Gold): (RIO), (SCCO)

Gold: (NEM)

Defense:

None

Consumer/Retail/Others:

Cons-Staples: (ADM), (TSN)

Cons-discretionary: (NKE)

Cons-Retail: (DG), (TGT), (LOW)

Tobacco: (BTI)

Communications/Media

(VZ)

Healthcare:

Pharma: (PFE), (ZTS), (JNJ)

Healthcare Ins: (UNH), (CI)

Technology:

(MSFT), (QCOM)

Energy:

Pipelines/ Midstream: (MPLX), (ENB)

Oil & Gas (prod. & exploration): (EOG), (PXD), (CVX)

Utilities:

(NRG)

Housing/ Construction:

(LEN)

REIT:

(VICI), (EXR)

Final Step: Narrowing Down To Just Five Companies

In this step, we construct three separate lists of five stocks each, with different sets of goals, dividend income, and risk levels.

The lists are:

1) Relatively Safe (Low-yield) Dividend list,

2) Moderately High Dividend List,

3) Ultra High Dividend List, and

4) A combined list of the above three (duplicates removed).

Out of the top 50, we make our judgment calls to make these three lists, so basically, the selections are based on our research and perceptions. So, while most of the filtering until now was based on automated criteria, the last step is pretty much subjective. We try to make each of the three lists highly diversified among various sectors and industry segments and try to ensure that the safety of dividends matches the overall risk profile of the group. We certainly encourage readers to do further research on the highlighted names.

Nonetheless, here are our three final lists for this month:

Final A-List (Relatively Safe Income):

Average yield: 2.83%

• (PFE)
• (ADP)
• (CI)
• (UPS)
• (QCOM).

Table-1A: A-LIST (Conservative Income)

We think this set of five companies (in the A-List) would form a solid diversified group of dividend companies that would be appealing to income-seeking and conservative investors, including retirees and near-retirees. The average yield of 2.83% is a bit low but still a lot more than that of the S&P500. The average dividend growth history is nearly 20 years, and the average discount from a 52-week high is very attractive for these stocks at -16%. Also, all five companies have an excellent credit rating of A- or higher. If you must need even higher dividends, consider B-List or C-List, presented later.

This month, the A-list contains two names from the same broader healthcare sector (which we normally like to avoid); however, they operate in different segments. Pfizer is a large pharmaceutical/drugs company, whereas Cigna is a healthcare Insurance and managed care company.

PFE (Pfizer):

We have included Pfizer in our lists for the past few months, and it continues this month. There are many reasons for this selection. The most important factors are a relatively cheaper valuation and its high dividend yield at 4.5% for a major pharma company. Share prices have declined more than 30% in 2023 and offer a great entry point.

In fact, the stock price has seen a lot of weakness in 2023 due to the Covid reset and the decline in Covid-related revenue going forward. In fact, in Q2 2023 report, it reported a 54% revenue drop due to 82% drop in revenue from Covid vaccines. However, excluding Covid related revenue, the company’s topline expanded ~5% YoY operationally. In any case, the stock appears to be undervalued, as it is down nearly 30% from its peak in 2022. In its future plans, the company has committed to much higher R&D spending.

The company is expected to close (in late 2023 or early 2024) its proposed acquisition of biotech company Seagen Inc. (SGEN). The deal appears to be expensive, but the management sees long-term value addition. Also, investors should not expect very high growth from Pfizer, just a high and stable dividend from a large pharma company.

ADP (Automatic Data Processing): ADP has paid and grown its dividend payout for the last 48 years and is known for the reliability and growth of its dividends at a steady pace. It is only a couple of years away from becoming a Dividend-King. Even though its current yield is mediocre, relatively high growth should compensate in the long run.

CI: (Cigna )

Cigna is one of the leading health insurers in the U.S. and has been in business for a long time. Cigna operates in 30 countries and generates an annual revenue of roughly 180 billion dollars. Cigna offers health insurance plans as well as other services such as pharmacy benefits [PBMs], pharmacy home delivery, data analysis, and the like to employers and healthcare providers.

Cigna, as well as UnitedHealth (UNH), have been appearing high in our rankings almost regularly. Both are excellent choices, but Cigna may have an edge over UNH in terms of valuation. However, please note that UNH has a much longer dividend history, whereas Cigna has started paying significant dividends only since 2021. That said, its payout ratio is still very low at 20% and has room to grow for many years. Also, management is share-holder friendly, and it has reduced the outstanding share float by 18% in the last three years.

In addition, the company has been growing its EPS at 13% for the last few years and is expected to grow by double digits for the next many years. The most significant risk for investors in companies like Cigna (or UNH) is the regulatory concerns and headwinds.

UPS (United Parcel Service): It is one of two duopolies in the logistics sector (the other being FedEx) and appears to be a better choice between the two in terms of dividend consistency. Sure, you do not want to invest in this company to double your quickly but rather invest for relatively safe dividends. The yield is attractive at 3.50%. Also, the company has increased its dividend for the past 14 years. The business is cyclical by its nature, and it is facing some headwinds right now. Besides, it just finalized a new negotiated union contract to avoid a painful strike. The agreement is seen by most analysts as a drag on UPS's future earnings.

In the current macro environment, not much growth is expected, but over the long term, the company should do okay, and in the meanwhile, we will continue to collect the dividends.

QCOM: (Qualcomm)

Just like last month, only two technology companies (Microsoft and Qualcomm) appeared in our top 50. Even though Microsoft is a very good stock but very expensive right now due to the AI hype, on the other hand, QCOM is down roughly 15% from its peak in 2022 (they have recovered a bit since last month). The company's shares are down due to a cyclical downturn in the smartphone handsets and the semiconductor industry. That said, the company maintains its technological leadership by investing heavily in the chipsets in IoT and the automotive industry, as well as 5G deployments. In our view, shares are cheap on a relative basis (though they were cheaper last month), and it could still be a great entry point. Sure, there are risks of the continued downturn in the smartphone handset volumes, as the segment represents nearly 2/3^rd of the company's revenues.

Final B-List (High Yield, Moderately Safe):

Average yield: 5.37%

• (PFE)
• (ADP)
• (TFC)
• (RIO)
• (ENB).

Note 1: Very often, we include a few low-risk stocks in B-List and C-list. Also, oftentimes, a stock can appear in multiple lists. This is done on purpose. We try to make each of our lists fairly diversified among different sectors/industry segments of the economy. We try to include a few of the highly conservative names in the high-yield list to make the overall group much safer.

Note 2: MPLX is a Mid-stream Partnership and issues the K1 tax form instead of 1099-Div (for corporations).

Table-1B: B-LIST (High Yield)

In the B-List, the overall risk profile of the group becomes slightly elevated compared to A-List. That said, the group (as a whole) will likely provide safe dividends for many years. This list offers an average yield for the group of 5.37%, an average of 20 years of dividend history, and an average discount of -23% (from 52-week highs).

TFC (Truist Financial):

Regional banks provide a vital role at the local community level and broadly in the national economy. The regional banks provide more than 70% of commercial real estate loans, more than 50% of all mortgages, and over 40% of all consumer loans. With so much exposure to the economy, they are practically indispensable. Sure, they have gone through some rough times recently. Due to the panic in the regional bank space, most of the risk and the downside are already priced in the stock price of banks like Truist. TFC has also lost 35% of its market value this year, and that is one of the factors that makes it an interesting and attractive investment. Also, Truist is not that much of a small bank, either. The current holding company was created from the merger of BB&T and SunTrust Bank in 2019. It is also the sixth largest bank in the U.S. This is not to say there is no more risk with banks like Truist. So far, the deposit flight for TFC has been minimal. Also, the Fed is much closer to the peak interest rates now than six month ago and a pause is in clear sight. As and when the Fed pivots and if we have lower rates in 2024, there are good chances that TFC's stock price will recover significantly. The dividend at the current levels is very attractive at 6.3%, while the payout ratio is low at 45% (the payout ratio with cash flow is even lower at 33%).

RIO (RIO Tinto):

The stock is not quite as cheap as it was in the second half of 2022, but it is attractive in terms of valuation. The stock has declined enough in recent months (from $80 in Jan.23) that it offers an attractive entry point. The quality of the company remains the same; just the market perceptions about the demand for commodities keep changing. We include it in our B-List and C-list due to the attractiveness of the dividend yield. The dividend amount has come down from the peak of 2022, but it is very likely to be sustained at current levels. If you think there may be more downside, it is okay to buy in two lots.

The company's stock is generally more volatile because of the cyclical nature of its business. Companies like Rio Tinto and BHP Group had a tremendous year in 2021-22 because of high commodity prices. The demand outlook may be down right now, but overall the demand for commodities will likely remain strong as more and more people move into the middle class in the developing world. Moreover, environmental regulations and the ESG framework will keep new exploration and supply growth restricted.

Final C-LIST (Yield-Hungry, Less Safe):

Average yield: 7.51%

• (PFE)
• (MPLX)
• (ARCC)
• (RIO)
• (VZ).

Notes:

Note 1: Oftentimes, a stock can appear in multiple lists. We try to include one or two conservative names in the high-yield list to make the overall group much safer.

Note 2: MPLX is a Mid-stream Partnership and issues the K1 tax form instead of 1099-Div (for corporations).

Table-1C: C-LIST (Yield-Hungry, Elevated Risk)

MPLX (MPLX LP):

In the B-List, we included ENB (Enbridge). However, in C-List, we are replacing ENB with the mid-stream partnership MPLX. This is primarily for the reason of higher dividend yield. MPLX is a midstream energy company with an excellent operating history. Its dividend appears to be safe as it recently increased the payout. That said, the stock price appears to be fairly valued. Also, as mentioned before, it is a partnership and not a corporation, unlike Enbridge.

ARCC (Ares Capital):

Ares Capital is one of the largest BDCs (Business Development Companies) in terms of market capitalization and net asset values. ARCC offers a very high yield of nearly 10%. Being a BDC, it invests in small and medium size companies, some of which may be distressed. ARCC has investments in nearly 475 companies making it a very diversified portfolio. It has a record of generating a high NII (net Investment income), which currently exceeds $1 billion on an annual basis. Its payout ratio is roughly 83% which is reasonable for a BDC and is measured by Core-EPS (which excludes realized and unrealized gains). With a nearly 10% dividend yield, there is not much scope left for capital appreciation, but we have to remember that this is an investment for income. This is also the reason it is placed only in C-list. That said, if someone reinvests all of the dividends, the total returns may still be attractive. It currently trades at a slight premium to its NAV.

VZ (VERIZON):

Verizon had a tough couple of years. The stock has been on a constant decline since mid-2022 and has lost nearly 40% of its value since then. So much so that it now supports a dividend yield of more than 7.6%. The question is if this is a value trap or a huge dividend opportunity.

Recently, there were new allegations against legacy telecom companies like Verizon and AT&T that they left behind lead-sheathed cables. This caused the share prices to decline further from already depressed levels due to the fear of liabilities and costly lawsuits. Since Verizon is not alone in this controversy, any fallout will evenly distribute to other carriers, and there should be no competitive disadvantage. Moreover, this may drag on many years to sort out and pay any settlement.

With all the negatives already priced in, Verizon is trading at valuations even lower than those seen during the 2008 financial crisis. Verizon has the best EBITDA margins amongst the three top telecom companies in the U.S. Its dividend is well covered by the earnings (last quarter's $2.7 billion of dividends vs $12 billion in EBITDA).

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Apparently, this list (C-List) is for yield-hungry DGI investors. The yield goes up as much as 7.51%. However, this list is not for conservative investors. As you can see, the average credit rating of this set of companies is much lower than the A-List or even B-List. Dividends are not super safe in this list, but the yields are very attractive. Many companies in this list come with an elevated level of risk. We urge due diligence to determine if it would suit your personal situation. Nothing comes for free, so there will be more risk involved with this group. That said, it's a highly diversified group spread among five different sectors.

We may like to caution that each company comes with certain risks and concerns. Sometimes these risks are real, but other times, they may be a bit overblown and temporary. So, it's always recommended to do further research and due diligence.

What If We Were to Combine the Three Lists?

If we were to combine the three lists and thereafter remove the duplicates (because of combining), we would be left with ten names. The combined list is highly diversified in as many as ten industry segments. The stats for the group of 10 are as follows:

Average yield: 5.35%

Average discount (from 52WK High): -16.6%

Average 5-Yr dividend growth: 22.52% (relatively high due to Cigna)

Average 10-Yr dividend growth: 9.7% (for 7 of the ten positions)

Average Payout Ratio: 42.1%

Average Total Quality Score: 78.64

Table 2:

Conclusion

In the first week of every month, we start with a fairly large list of dividend-paying stocks and filter our way down to just a handful of stocks that meet our selection criteria and income goals. In this article, we have presented three groups of stocks (five each) with different goals in mind to suit the varying needs of a wider audience. Even though the risk profile of each group is different, each group in itself is fairly balanced and diversified.

The first group of five stocks is for conservative investors who prioritize the safety of the dividend and the preservation of their capital. The second group reaches for a higher yield but with only a slightly higher risk. However, the C-group comes with an elevated risk and is certainly not suited for everyone.

This month, the first group yields 2.83%, while the second group elevates the yield to 5.37%. We also presented a C-List for yield-hungry investors with a 7.51% yield. The combined group (all three lists combined with duplication removed) offers an even more diversified group with ten positions and a 5.35% yield.

Editor's Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.

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