by Fred Fuld III
If you look through the high yield stocks that are extracted by stock screeners, you will notice that there are some outrageously high yields, some more than 25%; but are they genuine high yields? You will also find that different screeners come up with different results. So let’s look at some of the high yield dividend stocks.
Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (ORC) is a specialty finance company that invests in residential mortgage-backed securities in the United States. The stock pays monthly dividends and currently has a yield of 15.45%. It trades at 5.7 times trailing earnings and has a market capitalization of $505 million.
Frontline Ltd. (FRO) is a shipping company involved in the seaborne transportation of crude oil and oil products. The stock has a yield of 25.22% and has a price to earnings ratio of 5.67. The market cap is 1.57 billion.
Cornerstone Strategic Value Fund (CLM), Inc. is a closed-ended equity mutual fund that yields 16.6%, trades at 8.86 time trailing earnings, and has a market cap of $899 million. Dividends are paid monthly.
Rules for Investing in Very High Yield Stocks
1. Check the consistency in the number of payments per year.
2. Check the consistency in the amount of the dividend from quarter to quarter.
3. Check to make sure the dividend payment doesn’t include capital gains.
4. Check to make sure the yield isn’t generated by a special high year-end distribution.
5. Check to make sure that the dividends don’t exceed the stock’s earnings per share.
6. Check to make sure that your stock information provider is calculating the correct yield.
Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.