Long regarded as a sector known for its lack of yield, in recent years Technology has seen a pretty big increase in the number of companies paying dividends. While Tech still has the lowest overall dividend yield (1.0%) out of the ten S&P 500 (SPY) sectors, a number of companies in the sector currently yield more than the 10-Year US Treasury.
The table below highlights the 20 largest dividend payers in the S&P 500 Technology sector. Paychex (PAYX) tops the list with a yield of 4.1%, followed by Intel (INTC) with a yield of 4.0%. There are currently five Technology sector stocks yielding more than the 10-Year US Treasury. Who would have thought ten years ago that the day would ever come where an equally weighted basket of Cisco (CSCO), Intel (INTC) and Microsoft (MSFT) -- three of the highest flyers of the 1990s tech boom -- would have a comparable payout (2.7%) to the 10-Year Treasury (2.87%)?
