8 Good Dividend Stocks Trading at Bargain Prices

In a high-flying stock market, some nervous investors are looking for insurance.

(Image credit: Kiplinger)

In a high-flying stock market, some nervous investors are looking for insurance. Here's an old-school idea: Buy big-name stocks with above-average dividend yields and below-average price-earnings ratios.

Some on Wall Street call them YARP stocks, for “yield at a reasonable price.” Not surprisingly given the bull market's age, relatively few stocks offer both high yields and good value. But with help from research firm Morningstar, we found eight to highlight.

To make our initial cut, a company had to have a market capitalization of more than $5 billion. Then we looked for stocks that were cheaper than, and yielded more than, Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. To be specific, we sought stocks that yielded at least as much as the index’s 2.1% yield and traded for less than its price-earnings ratio of 17 (based on estimated year-ahead earnings).

The caveat is that YARP stocks tend to be slow-growing businesses. In other words, they're cheap for a reason. But we also wanted our picks to have catalysts to potentially drive faster growth, as well as a commitment to rising dividends.

Disclaimer

Stocks are listed alphabetically. Prices and related data are as of September 1. Price-earnings ratios are based on estimated earnings over the next four quarters.

Tom Petruno
Contributing Writer, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Petruno, a former financial columnist for the Los Angeles Times, is an independent investor, writer and consultant. He lives in L.A.