Jim Pyke's  Instablog

Taking a look at some common, large cap dividend stocks in the Oil & Gas industry. It is important to distinguish between MLPs and dividend paying stocks which have different tax and accounting issues. The following table shows a quick selection of some majors with their forward dividend yields.

Top Paying Dividend Stocks

Ticker	Name	Price	Forward Dividend Estimate	Forward Yield
CVX	Chevron Corporation	114.00	3.70	3.2%
XOM	Exxon Mobil Corporation	89.92	2.44	2.7%
BP	BP plc	41.93	2.10	5.0%
VLO	Valero Energy Corporation	32.18	0.71	2.2%
SPY	S&P 500 Trust ETF	144.33	2.91	2.0%

Source: Yahoo!Finance, author calculations and estimates.

BP plc (BP) shows a great improvement in increasing its quarterly dividend from $0.42 to $0.48. However it should be noted that this is down from its previous level of $0.84 per share. Chevron Corporation (CVX) is another promising opportunity. This $223 billion company (market capitalization) has a strong track record of paying dividends. Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) is another dividend stock with an above market yield. VLO is focused on oil refining and marketing company. I look forward to doing some more research and digging back into the basic materials and energy sector to review dividend paying stocks.

Disclosure: I am long SPY.

Additional disclosure: Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and shall not be construed to constitute investment advice. Nothing contained herein shall constitute a solicitation, recommendation or endorsement to buy or sell any security.

Frontier Communications Corp. (FTR) announced its earnings last week after close on Thursday with an earnings outperformance and a dividend cut (as I predicted back in November).

The stock continued its upward trend from Wed and Thursday after a Tuesday close at $4.06 to Wednesday's close at $4.31 to Thursday;s close at $4.46 (still prior to earnings announcements) to Friday's open (prior to management's discussion) at $4.61 to Friday's close at $4.78. These types of movements leave one wondering if there was some insider trading somewhere. Clearly, FTR had positive announcements and removed uncertainty around the dividend. However, the majority of these gains from $4.06 occurred prior to the announcement. Perhaps shorts were covering prior to the announcement having had a good run? If the stock continues a downward descent, I would attribute the pop to shorts covering as much as any other reason.

Based on friday's close FTR now yields 8.4% on a $0.40 forward annual dividend and a closing price of $4.78, access line customers has declined to 5.27 million. Its 10-K has not been posted to www.sec.gov yet.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a short position in FTR over the next 72 hours.

Additional disclosure: Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and shall not be construed to constitute investment advice. Nothing contained herein shall constitute a solicitation, recommendation or endorsement to buy or sell any security.

I have a great opportunity to attend Solar Power International 2011 in Dallas, TX.  For those who believe, the solar industry is in trouble, this conference would change your minds.  SPI is the leading solar event each year and draws in countless exhibitors, including 200+ module manufacturers and all the major names including First Solar (FSLR), Suntech (STP), Trina Solar (TSL), Yingli Green Energy (YGE) and many others.  One of the obvious challenges is that given the recent price declines, how will so many module manufacturers with so much capacity ultimately survive?  It appears that different companies are taking different strategies from vertical integration to product differentiation in response to a competitive market.

Having attended this event for a third consecutive year, it is important to see the industry on a global basis.  While the solar industry has a bad reputation in the U.S. from the recent Solyndra bankruptcy, it is a global industry and will continue to develop.  Furthermore, the U.S. is expected to become the number one market for solar PV installations within a few years.  Germany is the current leader and this title was previous held by Spain.  While looking through the exhibit halls, it was difficult to look in any one direction and not see a Chinese module manufacturer's booth, many U.S. companies are making inroads in the global market.  MEMC's (WFR) SunEdison division is rapidly expanding overseas.  A quick look at their website shows country GMs all across Asia.  Having expanded from placing arrays on retail stores, SunEdison is fast becoming a global leader in the solar PV industry.