One of the best ways to make a lot of money in stocks is to invest in dividend-paying stocks. After all, a company that is able to commit to regularly rewarding its shareholders with a payout of cash is a company that's relatively stable, with a sufficiently predictable profit stream. There are pitfalls within the world of dividend investing, though. Here are some tips to help you avoid common blunders.
Don't overshoot
It's easy to be drawn to sky-high dividend yields. Who wouldn't favor a 10% yield over a 3% one, after all? Plenty of 10% yields are solid, but plenty are tied to companies on shaky ground. The best explanation for that is math: A dividend yield is simply a ratio, dividing a stock's annual dividend payout by its current stock price, and then expressing that result as a percentage. Thus, if the stock price falls sharply, you'll be dividing the dividend by a smaller number, and the yield will be bigger. Huge dividend yields are sometimes due to a company simply having a lot of excess cash to distribute, but sometimes they reflect a company in temporary or permanent trouble that has seen its price plunge.
Cecil Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Cecil Bank (the Bank). The Bank is a Maryland chartered commercial bank, is a member of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Atlanta, and is an Equal Housing Lender. Its deposits are insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The Bank conducts its business through its main office in Elkton, Maryland, and branches in Elkton, North East, Fair Hill, Rising Sun, Cecilton, Aberdeen, Conowingo and Havre de Grace, Maryland. On August 16, 2013, Cecil Bank completed the sale of its Aberdeen, Maryland branch office to Howard Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Howard Bancorp, Inc.
Lending Activities
The Bank offers mortgage loans on one-to four-family residential dwellings. Most of the loans are originated in amounts up to $350,000, on single-family properties located in the Bank�� primary market area. The Bank�� mortgage loan originations are generally for terms of 15, 20 and 30 years, amortized on a monthly basis with interest and principal due each month. The Bank offers adjustable-rate mortgage loans with terms of up to 30 years. The Bank also originates conventional fixed-rate mortgages with terms of 15, 20, 30 or 40 years. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Bank originated $2,145,000 in adjustable-rate mortgage loans and $7,157,000 in fixed-rate mortgage loans. The Bank also offers second mortgage loans. These loans are secured by a junior lien on residential real estate. The total of first and second liens may not exceed a 90% loan to value ratio.
The Bank�� construction lending has primarily involved lending for construction of single-family residences, although the Bank does lend funds for the construction of commercial properties and multi-family real estate. Land loans granted to individuals have a term of up to 10 years and interest rates adjust every one, three or five years. Land loans granted to developers have te! rms of up to three years. The Bank originates loans on multi-family residential and commercial properties in its market area. The Bank�� permanent multi-family and commercial real estate loans are typically secured by retail or wholesale establishments, motels/hotels, service industries and industrial or warehouse facilities. Multi-family and commercial real estate loans generally have terms of 20 to 40 years, are either tied to the prime rate or have interest rate adjustments every one, three or five years.
The Bank offers commercial business loans and both secured and unsecured loans and letters of credit, or lines of credit for businesses located in its primary market area. The business loans have a one year term, while lines of credit can remain open for longer periods. The Bank�� consumer loans consist of automobile loans, deposit account loans, home improvement loans, and other consumer loans. Consumer loans are generally offered for terms of up to five years at fixed interest rates.
Investment Activities
The Bank maintains a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities in the form of Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) participation certificates. GNMA certificates are guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States, while FHLMC certificates are guaranteed by the agency.
Sources of Funds
Deposits are attracted principally from the Bank�� market area through the offering of a range of deposit instruments, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit ranging in term from 91 days to 60 months, as well as regular checking, negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW), passbook and money market deposit accounts. Deposit account terms vary, principally on the basis of the minimum balance required; the time periods the funds must remain on deposit, and the interest rate. The Bank also offers individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Deposits have been the primary so! urce of f! unds for the Bank�� lending and investment activities and for its general business activities. The Bank is authorized, however, to use advances from the FHLB of Atlanta to supplement its supply of lendable funds and to meet deposit withdrawal requirements.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By CRWE]
Today, CECB remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $.410 thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 1:10PM EDT August 30, 2013).
Howard Bancorp, Inc. and Cecil Bancorp, Inc. jointly previously reported their respective banking subsidiaries, Howard Bank and Cecil Bank, have completed the sale of Cecil Bank�� branch located at 3 West Bel Air Ave., Aberdeen, MD 21001 to Howard Bank pursuant to a purchase and assumption they entered into in March 2013.
Pursuant to the sale, Howard Bank has acquired $37.1 million in loans and $35.2 million in deposits from Cecil Bank.
Best High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Unifi Inc (UFI)
Unifi, Inc., sells fibers made from polyester and nylon filament to other yarn manufacturers, knitters and weavers that produce fabric for the apparel, hosiery, sock, home furnishing, automotive upholstery, industrial and other markets. The Company's polyester yarn products include polyester polymer beads (Chip), partially oriented yarn (POY), textured, solution and package dyed, twisted and beamed yarns. The Company's nylon products include textured, solution dyed and covered spandex products. The Company operates in three segments: Polyester segment, Nylon segment and International segment. In December 2013, Unifi Inc acquired American Drawtech Co Inc.
The Polyester segment manufactures Chip, POY, textured, dyed, twisted and beamed yarns, virgin and recycled, with sales primarily to other yarn manufacturers, knitters and weavers that produce yarn and/or fabric for the apparel, hosiery, automotive upholstery, home furnishing, industrial and other end-use markets. The Polyester segment consists of manufacturing operations in the United States and El Salvador. The Nylon segment manufactures textured nylon and covered spandex yarns with sales to knitters and weavers that produce fabric for the apparel, hosiery, sock and other end-use markets. The Nylon segment consists of manufacturing operations in the United States and Colombia. The International segment's products primarily include textured polyester and range of resale yarns. The International segment sells its yarns to knitters and weavers that produce fabric for the apparel, automotive upholstery, home furnishing, industrial and other end-use markets primarily in the South American and Asian regions.
The Company manufactures polyester related products in the United States, El Salvador and Brazil and nylon yarns in the United States and Colombia for a range of end-uses. The Company processes and sells POY, as well as high-volume commodity, specialty, and PVA yarns, domestically and internationally, with PVA yarns making up! approximately 18% consolidated sales for the fiscal year ended June 24, 2012.
The Company competes with O'Mara, Inc., NanYa Plastics Corp., AKRA, S.A. de C.V., C S Central America S.A. de C.V., Avanti Industria Comercio Importacao e Exportacao Ltda., Polyenka Ltda., Sapona Manufacturing Company, Inc., McMichael Mills, Inc. and Worldtex, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Javier Hasse, Insider Monkey]
Once again, MedAssets trades below its industry average valuation of 62.1 x P/E, at 49.3x. Its valuation becomes even more attractive when one looks at the company麓s P/B ratio (2.8x vs. an industry average of 15.6x) and P/S ratio (2.0x vs. 4.7x). However, below average margins, returns and growth projections are three major sources of concern.
Unifi (UFI) Finally, there’s Unifi (UFI), a $421 million market cap diversified producer and processor of multi-filament polyester and nylon yarns.
Best High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Spansion Inc(CODE)
Codere, S.A. engages in the management of gaming machines, bingo halls, horse racing tracks, casinos, and off-track betting facilities in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Panama, and Uruguay. As of December 31, 2008, the company managed 54,818 slot machines and electronic bingo terminals, 137 bingo halls with 30,803 seats, 106 off-track betting facilities, 3 horse racing tracks, and 6 casinos. It also operated 15,963 AWP machines in approximately 10,886 bars and restaurants in Spain. Codere, S.A. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Alcobendas, Spain.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Seth Jayson]
Spansion (NYSE: CODE ) reported earnings on April 30. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Spansion missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was up over 4% at $14.59 and hit a new multiyear high of $15.27 earlier on Wednesday. SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) is up right at 3% at $56.95 against a 52-week range of $38.47 to $63.97. Jefferies also reiterated its Buy rating and $21 price target for Micron. We are seeing similar gains in Spansion Inc. (NYSE: CODE), up 2.3% at $10.69, but we would warn that its 52-week range is $9.96 to $14.54. Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $12 to $14 valuation.
- [By Garrett Cook]
Technology shares jumped by 1.69 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included Imperva (NYSE: IMPV), up 21.6 percent, and Spansion (NYSE: CODE), up 20 percent.
- [By GuruFocus]
George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) just reported his first quarter portfolio. He buys Citrix Systems Inc, Baker Hughes Inc, Comcast Corp, Spansion Inc, etc during the 3-months ended 03/31/2014, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Soros Fund Management LLC. As of 03/31/2014, Soros Fund Management LLC owns 305 stocks with a total value of $10.1 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.New Purchases: BHI, CODE, CTRP, CLI, AVB, COMM, CNQ, AGO, AUY, ATML, ASH, BXMT, CSTM, AEM, CMA, ARE, CHKP, AUQ, BEAV, CX, ADSK, AALCP, BLK, AIG, BIIB, ADEP, AMRI, ARWR, ATHX, BALT, BCRX, BEAT, CFX, CLFD, CUR, CODE,Added Positions: CTXS, CMCSA, CNP, ALTR, BRCD, CBS, CRM, CHTR, CCJ, CIEN, BIDU, ALLE, ABT, CDNS, ACT,Reduced Positions: AAPL, CCI, AMT, ABBV, AAL, BITA, AL, ANGI, ARIA, CBST, BA, BIRT, EXAR,Sold Out: C, BAC, CRI, AMZN, AGN, CF, BRCM, COTY, BMY, AMCX, CAR, A, ADBE, AFL,For the details of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)'s stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=George+SorosThis is the sector weightings of his portfolio:Technology18.9%Energy14%Healthcare8.3%Consumer Defensive8.2%Communication Services8.1%Consumer Cyclical5.4%Industrials5.1%Basic Materials4.9%Financial Services2.5%Real Estate1.9%Utilities0.5%These are the top 5 holdings of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)1. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA) - 10,310,041 shares, 5.4% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 10.67%2. Herbalife Ltd (HLF) - 4,901,337 shares, 2.8% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 52.9%3. EQT Corp (EQT) - 2,573,814 shares, 2.5% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 3.27%4. Adecoagro SA (AGRO) - 25,915,076 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio.5. Halliburton Co (HAL) - 3,596,353 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 20.73%New Purchase: Baker Hughes Inc (BHI)George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) initiated holdings in Baker Hughes Inc. His purchase prices were between $51.82 and $65.27, with an estimated
Best High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: John B. Sanfilippo & Son Inc.(JBSS)
John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. engages in the processing and marketing of tree nuts and peanuts in the United States. It offers raw and processed nuts, including peanuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, pecans, pistachios, filberts, cashews, English walnuts, black walnuts, pine nuts, and macadamia nuts. The company provides nut products in various styles and seasonings, such as natural, blanched, oil roasted, dry roasted, unsalted, honey roasted, flavored, spicy, butter toffee, praline, and cinnamon toasted. It also offers peanut butter; food and snack products comprising snack mixes, salad toppings, natural snacks, trail mixes, dried fruit, and chocolate and yogurt coated products; baking ingredients; bulk food products; sunflower seeds, almond butter, sesame sticks, and other sesame snack products; and toppings for ice cream and yogurt. The company provides its products under various private labels, as well as under the Fisher, Orchard Valley Harvest, and Sunshine Country brand na mes. John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. markets its products through its own sales department, a network of independent brokers, and various independent distributors and suppliers to retailers and wholesalers, as well as to industrial, food service, and contract packaging customers. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Elgin, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Garrett Cook]
Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares rose by 0.04 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included John B Sanfilippo & Son (NASDAQ: JBSS), up 3.3 percent, and Blyth (NYSE: BTH), up 3.1 percent.
Best High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: A. H. Belo Corp (AHC)
A. H. Belo Corp incorporated on October 1, 2007, is a newspaper publishing and local news and information company that owns and operates four metropolitan daily newspapers and several associated Web sites. The Company publishes The Dallas Morning News, The Providence Journal, The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA), and the Denton Record-Chronicle. It publishes various niche publications targeting specific audiences, and its investments and/or partnerships include Classified Ventures, LLC, owner of cars.com and the Yahoo! Inc. (Yahoo!) Newspaper Consortium. The Company also owns and operates commercial printing, distribution and direct mail service businesses. The Company�� primary sources of revenue include advertising sold in published issues of its newspapers and on the Company�� Web sites, the sale of newspapers to subscribers and single copy customers, and commercial printing and distribution. In July 2012, The Dallas Morning News acquired Pegasus News (www.pegasusnews.com) from PanLocal Media LLC, a subsidiary of Archstream LLC of Dallas.
The Company�� The Dallas Morning News is a metropolitan newspapers in America. The Dallas Morning News is distributed primarily in Dallas County and 10 surrounding counties. The Dallas Morning News also publishes Briefing, a condensed newspaper distributed four days per week at no charge to non-subscribers of The Dallas Morning News in select coverage areas, and Al Dia, a Spanish-language newspaper published on Wednesdays and Saturdays and distributed at no charge in select coverage areas. The Dallas Morning News also publishes other news products targeted at communities in the North Texas area. The Dallas Morning News��financial and operating results also include The Denton Record-Chronicle.
The Company�� The Providence Journal is a newspaper in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The Providence Journal is a daily newspaper of general circulation and continuous publication in the United States. The Providence Journal a! lso publishes ProjoExpress, a weekly publication distributed at no charge to households in select Rhode Island communities. The Press-Enterprise is distributed in the Inland Southern California region, which includes Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The Press-Enterprise also publishes La Prensa, a weekly Spanish-language newspaper distributed at no charge in select coverage areas, as well as The Weekly, a targeted condensed newspaper distributed mid-week at no charge to non-subscribers, and Sunday Weekly, a publication that is distributed on Sunday at no charge to non-subscribers.
In addition to its core newspaper operations, the Company and Belo Corp., through their subsidiaries, together own 6.6% of Classified Ventures, LLC, a joint venture, in which the other owners are Gannett Co., Inc., The McClatchy Company, Tribune Company, and The Washington Post Company. The three principal online businesses Classified Ventures, LLC operates are cars.com, apartments.com, and homegain.com. The Company and Belo, through Belo Lead Management LLC, have also invested in ResponseLogix, Inc. (www.responselogix.com). ResponseLogix provides advanced, Internet-based management solutions to auto dealers.
Advertising
The Company has a portfolio of print, online and digital advertising products and services. During the year ended December 31, 2011, advertising revenues accounted for approximately 61.2 % of total revenues of which 12.5 of advertising revenue was generated by the Company�� digital advertising products. Its Display advertising revenue consists of sales of advertising space within its newspapers and niche publications to local, regional or national retail and service businesses with local operations, affiliates or resellers. Its Classified advertising revenue comprises sales of advertising space in the classified and other sections of its newspapers, which include certain automotive, real estate, employment and other.
The Company�� Preprint revenue ! is earned! from sales of pre-printed advertisements or circulars inserted into its core newspapers and niche publications, or distributed by mail or third-party distributors to households in targeted areas in order to provide total market coverage for advertisers. Its Digital advertising revenue consists of sales of and other display, video, behavioral targeting, search, rich media, directories, classifieds, direct email marketing, or other advertising on digital platforms associated and integrated with the Company�� print publications, and on third party Web sites, such as Yahoo!, monster.com, and cars.com..
Circulation
Circulation revenues accounted for approximately 30.3 % of total revenues in 2011 and represent subscription and single copy sales revenue related primarily to the Company�� core newspapers. The Company�� Websites also include (dallasnews.com, providencejournal.com, pe.com and other related Websites) offering users news information, user-generated content, advertising, e-commerce and other services.
Printing and Distribution
Printing and distribution revenues comprised approximately 8.5 % of the Company�� revenue in 2011 and consists primarily of commercial printing, distribution and direct mail service. The Company provides commercial printing services, primarily for national newspapers, such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA Today and other local newspapers. Newsprint used in the production of large national newspapers is generally provided by the customer. The Company also provides home delivery and retail outlet distribution services, for such national newspapers, as well as for regional newspapers delivered into its coverage areas, such as The Boston Globe and the Los Angeles Times. The Company also operates a direct mail service business in Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Advisors' Opinion: Best High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: DCT Industrial Trust Inc (DCT)
DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (DCT) is an industrial real estate company that owns, operates and develops bulk distribution and light industrial properties in distribution markets in the United States and Mexico. The Company is structured as an umbrella partnership real estate investment trust (REIT), under which substantially all of its business is, and will be, conducted through a majority-owned and controlled subsidiary, DCT Industrial Operating Partnership LP (the operating partnership), a Delaware limited partnership, for which DCT Industrial Trust Inc. is the sole general partner. The Company owns properties through its operating partnership and its subsidiaries. As of December 31, 2011, DCT owned approximately 90% of the outstanding equity interests in its operating partnership. In March 2012, DCT acquired a 32.6 acre land parcel in Romeoville, within the southern I-55 industrial submarket of Chicago. In May 2012, the Company acquired two Class A industrial buildings totaling 98,000 square feet in Houston, known as DCT Claymoore Center. Located in the Northwest submarket of Houston, DCT Claymoore Center encompasses a bulk and light industrial facility and is 95.8%-occupied.
During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired 24 buildings comprising 2.8 million square feet and controlling ownership interests in three buildings totaling 0.4 million square feet. In 2011, the Company sold 16 operating properties totaling approximately 2.7 million square feet to third-parties. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� consolidated operating properties had leases with approximately 900 customers with no single customer accounting for more than 1.7% of the total annualized base rents of its properties. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned interests in, managed or had under development approximately 75.5 million square feet of properties leased to approximately 900 customers, including 58.1 million square feet comprising 408 consolidated properties owned in its operating portfo! lio, which were 90.6% occupied; 0.2 million square feet comprising one consolidated property under redevelopment, and 17.2 million square feet comprising 52 unconsolidated properties, which were 86.3% occupied and one managed-only property operated on behalf of five institutional capital management partners. As of December 31, 2011, its total consolidated portfolio consisted of 409 properties with an average size of 142,000 square feet and an average age of 20.2 years.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Brad Thomas]
Other REITs mentioned: (O), (NNN), (STAG), (DCT), (EGP), (PDM), (DRE), (LRY)
Source: Chambers Street: More Liquidity Magic On The Way In REIT-Dom Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)