Finding technically actionable high-dividend stocks paying at different quarterly frequencies.
As the market prices in a Fed rate cut in September, long-duration fixed income groups still lack the relative strength to be an option for income and price appreciation. That’s why we thought today would be an opportune time to update the check-a-month strategy which can be a useful tool for supplementing portfolio yield via high dividend equities.
The check-a-month strategy involves buying a group of high-yielding, quarterly-dividend-paying stocks with dividend payment dates spread across the quarter so that the client receives a dividend check(s) each month.
When building a check-a-month portfolio, it is essential to select not only high-yielding stocks but also stocks with a healthy technical picture to better stack the odds of future outperformance in your favor. After all, your client won't be impressed with their 3% yield if the market value of their portfolio drops by 15%. Looking only at dividend yield, we found that there are 122 stocks in the S&P 500 with a dividend yield of 3% or higher. However, when we narrow our search using a technical overlay, we are left with 21 stocks. A list of all the criteria we inputted in the Security Screener tool is below:
- S&P 500 Universe
- Price = >$10
- Trend = Positive
- P&F Signal = Buy
- Technical Attributes = 3+
- Dividend Yield > 3%
You will find all 21 names in the table below categorized into three groups based on their usual dividend payment schedule.
Early Quarter Dividend Payout (January, April, July, October)
Mid-Quarter Dividend Payout (February, May, August, November)
Late Quarter Dividend Payout (March, June, September, December)
MO Altria Group Inc. ($58.83) – Food Beverages/Soap – MO is rated as a buy with four out of five technical attributes in its favor. MO is the highest yielding stock on our list with a yield of 6.81% and one of the most technically sound. MO has traded in a positive trend for over a year and is two boxes away from marking a new multi-year high. MO has multiple support levels offered from $49 to $57 and is actionable at current levels with a weekly overbought/oversold reading of 3%.
WMB Williams Companies Inc. ($59.15) – Gas Utilities – WMB is rated as a strong buy with five out of five technical attributes in its favor. WMB has carved out a ten-point range since the start of the year and is now testing resistance at all-time highs. WMB trades on two consecutive buy signals and a move to $62 would break a spread triple top. WMB offers a yield of 3.35% and has been in a positive trend since 2020.
