By Serkan Unal

Investors looking for supplemental income to pay their regular monthly expenditures can earn monthly income from equities that pay regular monthly dividends/distributions. Monthly dividends/distributions not only provide regular monthly income streams but also enable faster compounding that can yield higher returns over time. Given the rising population of retirees, preference for monthly income is increasing, which is making these equities more attractive to the investors. Equities paying monthly dividends/distributions are often concentrated among REITs and business development companies (BDCs). Here is a closer look at five equities paying dependable monthly income, including a few REITs that fulfill that purpose.

LTC Properties Inc. (LTC) is a REIT that invests in senior housing and long-term care related facilities through facility lease transactions, mortgage loans, and other investments. It pays a distribution yield of 4.0% on a payout ratio of 75% of its 2013 normalized diluted FFO guidance midpoint.

By Serkan Unal

Ira W. Sohn Investment Research Conference, an annual charitable event, was first organized in 1996, to commemorate Ira W. Sohn, a Wall Street trader who lost his life to cancer. What makes the investment conference widely popular is its roster of top-notch investment managers who discuss their favorite stock picks as both long and short ideas. The conference was held on May 8 this year, and some of its main presenters included renowned hedge fund managers David Einhorn, Stanley Druckenmillers, and Bill Ackman. Among the stocks discussed by top money managers at this event, there are a few dividend payers with yields above 2%. Here is a closer look at five such dividend stocks that investors could further research before mimicking the moves of the high-profile investment managers.

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) was mentioned as a bullish play by billionaire Bill Ackman of Pershing

By Serkan Unal

David Dreman is a well-known contrarian value investor, who, throughout his 39-year investment career, has pursued stocks of "undervalued, yet fundamentally-sound companies." His investment approach centers on buying out-of-favor stocks with low price-to-earnings, price-to-book, and price-to-cash flow ratios. This approach has proven successful over time.

Emulating David Dreman's contrarian investment strategy in the small-cap universe is his namesake fund, Dreman Contrarian Small Cap Value Fund (DRSVX). The fund's lead manager is Mark Roach, but investment guru David Dreman is still involved in the fund's portfolio management team. Sifting through the fund's purchases in the first quarter, one can find several value picks paying respectable dividend yields. Here is a closer look at five contrarian plays yielding at least 2% that can be further researched by dividend investors interested in pursuing Dreman's contrarian value strategy.

ManTech International Corporation (MANT), a provider of services in cyber

By Serkan Unal

Consistent dividend growth provides inflation protection and allows for compounding that increases income streams from dividends. This is more favorable than earning fixed income streams from securities like bonds. In fact, dividend compounding, among other things, has such a powerful effect on total equity returns, that, according to Raymond James:

going back to 1960, 79.5% of the total return of the S&P 500 index can be attributed to reinvested dividends and the power of compounding.

While many stocks pay attractive yields and have good prospects for consistent dividend growth in the future, a select few can afford to double their dividend payouts in a short period of time. These stocks with yields of at least 3% have current dividend payouts below 40%, debt-to-equity below 50%, and positive long-term EPS growth. Below is a quick glance at five dividend payers with a potential to double down on their

By Serkan Unal

The global economy remains stuck in a low gear, albeit it is starting to show some nascent indications of improvement. At best, however, the global output growth is expected to average about 3% per year for the next five years, according to Conference Board's Global Economic Outlook 2013. However, in several industries, companies have strong prospects for future growth, with their annualized long-term EPS growth forecasts exceeding the predicted rate of global output growth by a factor of at least 5. Now, only a limited number of high-yielding companies in the high-growth industries also boasts potential for superb long-term total return. Looking specifically at stocks of companies with yields above 3% and the EPS CAGR at or above 15% for the next five years, here is a glance at five stocks with capacity for outstanding long-term total returns.

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI) operates the largest

By Serkan Unal

Momentum has become a recognized investment style that complements traditional value-growth and size investment styles. Investors follow this style with an assumption that established bullish trends in total returns are more likely than not to be sustained in the future. AQR Capital Management, an investment firm of billionaire hedge fund manager Cliff Asness, makes the case for momentum investing, concluding that:

growth investors will find that momentum offers much better performance at comparable volatility; value investors will find momentum to be an effective complement to help reduce tracking error to the broad market indices; and value-growth investors, or investors in a broad core market index, should consider replacing momentum as an alternative to their growth allocation.

Dividend investors can also complement their investment strategy with momentum investing focused on total returns. Based on AQR Capital Management's momentum methodology, which measures the stocks' total returns (including reinvested

By Serkan Unal

Utility stocks paying respectable dividends are generally considered defensive investments with low volatility of returns relative to those of the overall market. Utilities are the least sensitive to economic cycles, as evident by their stable revenue and cash flows over time. They also have low operational risk. In the yield-starved environment, utility stocks paying respectable dividend yields are especially attractive.

Citi analysts have developed a list of large-cap stocks with dividend yields at least 100 basis points above the median-yielding stocks, positive dividend momentum per consensus forecasts, and solid financial strength as indicated by low CDS spreads. Among the 26 U.S.-based equities comprising the list, there are seven utility stocks paying respectable dividends. Here is a closer look at the seven featured dividend-payers.

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American Electric Power Company (AEP) is one of the largest U.S. electric utilities, serving 5.3 million customers in 11

By Serkan Unal

Emulating insider purchases can generate alpha over time relative to benchmarks, according to academic studies (read more about the research on this investment strategy here). Investors who pursue this strategy generally assume that corporate insiders have an intimate knowledge of their businesses and industries, and are thus better equipped to make informed decisions about the appropriate timing of investments in the stocks of their companies. Still, this strategy should not be followed blindly, but should involve an additional, thorough analysis of the fundamentals and prospects of each individual stock with insider buying. With this in mind, below is a quick glance at four dividend-paying stocks with yields above 2% that have seen meaningful insider buying recently.

General Electric Company (GE), an industrial conglomerate, has recently been struggling with flat revenues, although its orders backlog continues to break records. Despite the near-term revenue woes, most notably

By Serkan Unal

The financial sector has outperformed the broad market over the past year, buoyed by a recovering economy, better loan demand, and improving credit quality. The outlook for the sector is positive, on expectations that accelerating GDP will lead to higher loan growth, the housing market will continue its recovery, bolstering home prices, improving returns on equity will drive valuations higher, and rising bond yields next year will steepen the yield curve, helping improve net interest margin. What's more, better capital adequacy is allowing many financial companies to hike dividends at robust rates, pushing up their yields to attractive levels.

As investors move into growth-sensitive sectors such as financials, it may be expected that stocks of life insurance companies, asset managers, and banks will post strong total returns in the near-to-medium term. Part of these total returns will come from dividends. In fact, many financial stocks offer both

By Serkan Unal

Insider purchases can represent good starting points in the search for stocks with upside potential. Empirical research suggests that copycat strategies based on insider stock purchases can generate excess returns over time relative to benchmarks. However, investors should be selective with insider picks, evaluating fundamentals and prospects of each individual stock.

The following represents a selection of five dividend-paying stocks with yields above 2.0% that have had meaningful insider buying recently. Some of these stocks, such as Walgreen Co. (WAG), the largest U.S. drugstore chain, boast strong growth potential, while others, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), are value plays paying respectable dividend yields. Insider purchases of these dividend-paying stocks are insiders' votes of confidence in these stocks' future prospects. In some cases, such as that of Calamos Asset Management Inc. (CLMS), this insider support comes in spite of the company's weak fundamentals and

By Serkan Unal

The market's robust rally over the past few years has boosted valuations of many stocks. In particularly strong demand have been stocks that pay respectable dividend yields, which now have become priced well above the levels justified by their long-term growth potential. While it is getting more difficult to find appealing dividend stocks with reasonable valuations, there are still a few sound dividend-paying stocks that are trading below book value.

Book value represents an accounting measure of the company's net worth, or assets minus its liabilities. Stocks that trade at market prices per share lower than their book values per share can theoretically be purchased at market values below the companies' liquidation values, signifying a discount to companies' net worth. Finding stocks with a margin of safety that trade at these discounts is part of a value investing strategy that has proven to be effective in producing

By Serkan Unal

Investors in pursuit of stocks with capacity for strong long-term total returns should examine undervalued stocks with consistently strong profitability. Sifting through stocks with forward earnings multiples below 15, debt-to-equity ratios below 50%, and positive earnings growth over the past five years along with a forecast long-term earnings growth above 5% per year, we selected five stocks with superb historical profitability as measured by the Return on Equity (ROE). Below is a closer look at stocks of five undervalued companies paying dividend yields above 2% that have proven their consistent capacity to earn amply on each dollar of invested equity capital. These stocks boast potential for strong total returns, including income from dividends, over the long run.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW), an industrial products and equipment maker, is an S&P Dividend Aristocrat with exactly 49 consecutive years of annual dividend increases. The company has a

By Serkan Unal

Dividend investors generally seek stability of dividend payouts and solid total return potential from their investment picks. Among small-to-mid cap stocks, there are some that boast strong records of dividend growth over several decades. These stocks generally show consistent earnings power and cash flow generation capacity that secures regular dividend payouts and increases over long periods of time. Here is a closer look at four companies operating mainly natural gas utilities with less than $5 billion in market capitalization and dividend yields above 2% that have more than 30 years of consecutive annual dividend increases. These stocks have provided dividend investors with attractive yields and regular dividend growth.

WGL Holdings Inc. (WGL), a regulated natural gas utility and provider of various energy-related services to customers in the Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia, has paid dividends for 162 consecutive years and has raised

By Serkan Unal

Flush with cash and enjoying strong free cash flow generating capacity, many companies continue to boost their dividends. Some do it with strong confidence, increasing dividends at high nominal rates. These dividend increases, especially when sizable, signify financial strength and project a company's confidence in its capacity to earn sufficient profits or to generate enough free cash flow to sustain dividends at higher levels for an extended period of time. Rising dividends may also represent the absence of opportunities to invest in growth; however, even then, higher dividends represent the companies' commitment to sustainable investor-friendly policies that boost shareholder value.

Below is a review of five stocks with yields of at least 2% that have recently reported dividend increases of at least 10%. Some of these stocks, such as Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO), are good value and income investments, while others, including Stewart Enterprises Inc.

By Serkan Unal

If stocks' excellence in boosting shareholder value is measured by consistency of dividend growth, then only a small group of stocks is privileged to carry the title of the best and safest among dividend growth stocks. These stocks characterize companies with strong market positions in their respective industries, consistent earnings power through all economic cycles, and strong cash flow generation that allows these companies to pay ever-increasing dividend payouts year after year. While these stocks may not be the ones with the highest yields or dividend growth, consistency of their dividend payments makes them natural picks for prudent income portfolios.

Among the stocks with the longest streaks of consecutive dividend growth, there are four companies that celebrate a semi centennial this fiscal year, or 50 years of consecutive annual dividend increases. Three of the four featured stocks are large-cap blue chip constituents of the S&P 500 index,

by Serkan Unal

Sifting through insider purchase transactions in search of stocks with upside potential can be a sound investing strategy. This is according to research that suggests mimicking insider purchases can generate alpha over time relative to market indices. The strategy is based on the assumption that insiders have an intimate knowledge of their own companies and industries, and are thus better able to judge when it may be a good time to buy stock in their own companies.

The following represents a selection of three dividend-paying stocks yielding above 2.0% with recent meaningful insider buying. Among the stocks, Kohl's Corp. (KSS), a department store operator, represents a good value play, but due to a negative momentum in its operational environment the stock could trade at better entry points in the near future. Macquarie Infrastructure Company LLC (MIC), a high-yield owner of infrastructure businesses ranging from

By Serkan Unal

In our recent articles, we talked about low-volatility strategies as successful ways to outperform the market over the long run, as supported by historical evidence. Our research focused on large-cap and mid-cap stocks with the lowest realized volatility over the past 12 months, as measured by the standard deviation (variability of returns) of the stocks' daily price returns over the noted period. In addition to stocks with market capitalization well above $2 billion, there is a number of stocks below or around that threshold with low variability of returns over time. Based on the S&P SmallCap 600 Low Volatility Index, below is a closer look at five small-cap dividend stocks in the S&P SmallCap 600 index with the lowest historical volatility over the past 12 months, as indicated by the stocks' weights in the noted low-volatility index.

Even though these are small-cap stocks, low volatility

Recently, we discussed low-volatility strategies as a method to beat the market over the long run. In the previous article, we focused on large-cap stocks with the lowest realized volatility over the past 12 months, as measured by the standard deviation (variability of returns) of the stocks' daily price returns over the noted period. Aside from large-cap stocks with low-volatility of returns, there are a number of mid-cap companies with low variability of returns over time. Based on the S&P MidCap 400 Low Volatility Index, here is a closer look at five mid-cap dividend stocks in the S&P MidCap 400 index with the lowest historical volatility over the past 12 months, as indicated by the stocks' weights in the S&P MidCap 400 Low Volatility Index. Dividend payouts of these stocks serve as an additional cushion against the stocks' downside. The featured five equities consist mostly of

By Serkan Unal

We have written on several occasions in the past that corporate insiders' sales of stock in their own companies may be indicative of an expected drop in the share prices in the near future. Insiders are in the best position to judge whether their businesses are facing any challenges that could lead to stock price declines or whether their stocks are priced above intrinsic values and price levels justified by the stock's fundamentals. Of course, insiders often sell stock in their companies so as to diversify their holdings, to meet option expiration deadlines, or to meet disposition requirements set under the predefined disposition plans. Therefore, investors should try to decipher the nature of insider sales before mimicking their moves.

Recently, there have been several noteworthy insider sales of dividend-paying stocks. Here is a quick glance at five such sales transactions that could indicate a negative insider sentiment.

By Serkan Unal

The U.S. stock market is reaching new record highs, and its outlook for this year is optimistic. A large number of analysts, financiers, and economists, including David Tepper of Appaloosa Management and Jeremy Siegel, a professor at Wharton School of Business known as the "Wizard of Wharton," are forecasting market gains of up to 20% this year. While a 20% gain for the year based on passive index investing in the broad market would be excellent, and even better would be a possibility to outperform the market. One strategy that tries to achieve that goal during the bull runs is high-beta investing.

Over the past four years of the market's uninterrupted rally, high-beta investing outperformed the S&P 500 in three out of four years - with a substantial margin, based on the performance of the S&P 500 High Beta Index. The strategy is based on picking