High yield dividend stocks can appear to be attractive
investments, but many of them can be very risky. Some may seem to
be a good investment at one point in time, but it is important to
understand that factors for these seemingly high-yielding stocks,
such as the size of the dividend, stock price, and dividend yield
can change at any time.
The biggest risk factor with high yielding dividend stocks is a
continually falling stock price. Often times, a super-high yield
results mainly from a price drop, since a stock's price and yield
move inversely to each other.
Also, if a stock price falls significantly in a relatively short
amount of time, a company may decide to cut their dividends.
Remember, falling stock prices are often a signal of declining
earnings, and when earnings drop, dividends tend to follow. Below
are five high-yield stocks that investors should probably avoid
right now.
1. BGC Partners
BGC Partners, Inc. (
BGCP
) is a global brokerage firm located in New York, New York. It was
founded in 1994 when Cantor Fitzgerald spun out its brokerage firm.
The firm provides a wide range of products including fixed income
securities, interest rate swaps, foreign exchange, equities, equity
derivatives, credit derivatives, commercial real estate, property
derivatives, commodities, futures, and structured products.
BGCP currently has a payout ratio of 109%, and a dividend yield
of 14.47%. In the past year, the stock has declined 18.27% percent
- to under $5 per share.
2. Tsakos Energy Navigation
Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. (
TNP
) is a Greek provider of international seaborne crude oil and
petroleum that was founded in 1993. It focuses on marine
transportation for national and independent oil companies, and is
one of the largest transporters of energy in the world.
The company has an incalculable payout ratio (considering it's
on track to lose a substantial sum of money this year), and a
dividend yield of 12.63%. In the past year, TNP's stock has
declined by 42% - also to under the pivotal $5 per share mark.
3. Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom(
PT
) is a holding company specializing in telecommunications and is
located in Lisboa, Portugal. The company, founded in 1994, provides
TV, Internet, and I.T. services. The company is the Portuguese
national leader in every sector that it operates.
PT's stock has a payout ratio of 87% (which is set to rise next
year as its earnings continue to fall), and a dividend yield of
12.63%. The stock has declined 13.34% in the past year.
4. Teekay Tankers
Teekay Tankers Ltd (
TNK
) is an international marine transportation company located in
Bermuda. The company, which was founded in 2007, focuses on oil
tank ownership. TNK has a payout ratio of 106%, and a dividend
yield of 14.97%. The stock has increase 0.57% in the last year.
With a stock price of only $3.55, this stock is also very risky
since it is well below $5.
5. France Telecom
France Telecom(
FTE
) is a telecommunications company located in Paris. The company,
which was founded in 1988, specializes in mobile and internet
providing for multinational businesses. FTE is the largest
telecommunications company in Europe and second largest
worldwide.
Despite its seemingly strong business presence, the company has
a too-high payout ratio of 96.6%, and a dividend yield of 14.10%.
FTE shares have declined 19.09% in the past year.