Slide Show | November 2012
12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month
By Jeffrey R. Kosnett
Follow @JeffreyRKosnett
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
January: Occidental Petroleum (OXY)
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52-week high: $106.68
52-week low: $72.43
5-year-dividend growth rate: 18.1%
Last dividend increase: 17.4% in April 2012
Also pays in: April, July, October
Oxy is primarily a domestic oil and gas producer, with much of its exploration in California and in shale formations in Texas and North Dakota. It differs from some other large oil companies in that it doesn't have a low-profit refining and marketing business. It also says, emphatically, in its investor presentations that increasing its dividend is a higher priority than making acquisitions, buying back stock or piling up reserves. January: Occidental Petroleum (OXY)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
February: Realty Income (O)
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52-week high: $44.22
52-week low: $32.76
5-year-dividend growth rate: 3.9%
Last dividend increase: 0.2% in October 2012
Also pays in: Every month
This real estate investment trust pioneered the strategy of buying or building free-standing drugstores, restaurants, cinemas, fitness centers and similar buildings and leasing them to familiar chains, which pay the rent, maintenance and taxes. Realty Income pays dividends every month and raises the rate several times a year, though slowly and usually by small amounts. The REIT is safe and consistent, with more than 500 consecutive monthly dividends to its credit. February: Realty Income (O)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
March: Intel (INTC)
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52-week high: $29.27
52-week low: $19.23
5-year dividend growth rate: 14.4%
Last dividend increase: 7.1% in September 2012
Also pays in: June, September, December
Intel, which makes semiconductors and processors, has been one of tech's most committed dividend-payers, although its 2012 increase was only half the size of its average hike over the past five years. Intel is wrestling with slowing growth in sales of desktop and laptop computers, its largest sources of sales and earnings. That makes Intel the one stock on this list that we might replace. But then again, if you want a tech stock that yields more than the general stock market, Intel is your best choice. March: Intel (INTC)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
April: Wal-Mart (WMT)
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52-week high: $77.60
52-week low: $57.00
5-year dividend growth rate: 16.9%
Last dividend increase: 8.9% in April 2012
Also pays in: July, October, January
Wal-Mart's stock is near its all-time high and earnings are sizzling, so you can expect good dividend growth for the foreseeable future. The five-year growth rate is inflated by an unusually large boost in 2011; 10% to 12% is closer to the norm. That's plenty to underscore that Wal-Mart doesn't mind sharing its wealth even when the economy is growing slowly. April: Wal-Mart (WMT)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
May: Procter & Gamble (PG)
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52-week high: $70.83
52-week low: $59.07
5-year dividend growth rate: 10.8%
Last dividend increase: 7.0% in May 2012
Also pays in: August, November, February
This is the archetypal solid, predictable, low-stress growth stock. It is so huge that a 7% to 10% dividend growth rate may be all you can expect -- but that's good enough considering that it usually yields more than 3%. May: Procter & Gamble (PG)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
June: McDonald's (MCD)
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52-week high: $102.22
52-week low: $83.31
5-year dividend growth rate: 20.4%
Last dividend increase: 10.0% in December 2012
Also pays in: September, December, March
McDonald's started getting serious about dividends in 2006, and it still is. Admittedly, the latest increase was less than the recent average because business in general hasn't been great. Sales were down all over the world in the most recent quarter. But that's unlikely to happen again. June: McDonald's (MCD)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
July: Kimberly-Clark (KMB)
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52-week high: $88.25
52-week low: $69.40
5-year dividend growth rate: 7.4%
Last dividend increase: 5.7% in April 2012
Also pays in: October, January, April
The maker of Kleenex, Huggies and Scott paper products resembles Procter & Gamble in that it makes familiar household products, it isn't risky, and it has lifted its payout every year . . . for the past 40 years. The company and the shares have had an excellent 2012. Figure on another dividend hike early in 2013. July: Kimberly-Clark (KMB)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
August: AT&T (T)
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52-week high: $38.58
52-week low: $27.76
5-year dividend growth rate: 5.1%
Last dividend increase: 2.3% in February 2013
Also pays in: November, February, May
The share price has fallen back 15% from its high in early October. But it is still up for the year, and the current dividend yield is again over 5%, the highest in the Dow Jones industrial average. AT&T and Verizon dominate the wireless business, and although AT&T may sometimes leave you frustrated if you're a customer, it's good to be a shareholder. August: AT&T (T)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
September: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
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52-week high: $72.74
52-week low: $61.71
5-year dividend growth rate: 9.1%
Last dividend increase: 7.0% in June 2012
Also pays in: December, March, June
A blue-chip cash machine with a great group of global health businesses, J&J grows just enough to raise dividends between 5% and 10% a year while the shares almost never misbehave. This is the way the stock market is supposed to work for patient, loyal investors. September: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
October: Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
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52-week high: $59.96
52-week low: $48.49
5-year dividend growth rate: 12.1%
Last dividend increase: 10.1% in January 2013
Also pays in: January, April, July
ADP is a giant payroll processor that makes some of its profits investing the money it holds for employers before the paychecks are cashed and deposited. It's also a financial fortress, with $1.1 billion in cash and little debt. That means its dividends are ironclad and rise at a decent pace. October: Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
November: Vale (VALE)
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52-week high: $26.87
52-week low: $15.77
5-year dividend growth rate: 26.4%
Last dividend increase: 1.6% in May 2012
Vale is a global diversified company based in Brazil with an irregular dividend schedule. We like it because there's usually a big payment in November, plus occasional extra dividends whenever the company decides they are in order. For example, while the payment in November 2012 was roughly the same as the one in 2011, Vale issued a good-size payment in May 2011, too. With metals prices rebounding from a slump, Vale ought to pay good dividends in 2013. November: Vale (VALE)
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12 Stocks to Get Dividends Every Month - Slide Show
December: American Electric Power (AEP)
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52-week high: $45.41
52-week low: $36.97
5-year dividend growth rate: 4.3%
Last dividend increase: 2.2% in December 2011
Also pays in: March, June, September
AEP is one of the safest traditional (regulated) electric utility stocks because it operates in 11 states, which spreads the risk arising from storms and other controversies. It also pays a below-industry-average 52% of its earnings as dividends. That gives AEP scope to raise dividends even in slow years, and it makes the chance of a cut almost unimaginably small. AEP shares also yield more than most other electric systems -- a hard-to-explain bonus that has landed this utility in the Kiplinger Income 25 , the collection of our favorite income investments. December: American Electric Power (AEP)
