Exchange traded fund (
ETF
) investors are looking for income, and they're not finding it in
Treasury bonds. That's part of the reason dividend ETFs are so
appealing right now. But not every sector is handing them out in
equal measure.
Nilus Mattive for Money and Markets has found
a few dividend trends in the midst of the second-quarter earnings
season:
- The number of companies cutting dividends is starting to
slow: 34 companies decreased or eliminated payments.
- A massive 335 companies increased dividends in the second
quarter; that's a 44% jump from a year ago.
- The biggest dividend payers were
consumer staples
,
utilities
and
communications
. You can find ETFs in any of these categories by going to the
ETF Analyzer
and sorting by yield to see where the biggest payouts are.
- Financials, materials and consumer discretionary companies
may not be counted on for reliable dividends right now. [
Listen to Our Dividend ETF Podcast!
]
Going forward, the overall picture is looking sunnier for
dividend payouts among companies, as they are forecasted to rise.
on a company by company basis it is hard to determine which
companies are going to rise their payout but ultimately, look for
prosperity in these sectors: utilities, financials,and
communications. [
Time to Consider Dividend ETFs?
]
Ben Steverman for BusinessWeek reports that
you should be warned, though. If you're increasing your exposure to
dividends, your taxes could be going up, too. [
Dividends: Aristocrats and Acheivers.
]
Taxes on these dividends could be rising because, at the end of
2010, tax cuts implemented under former President George W. Bush
will expire. Right now, the Federal tax is capped at 15%, but if
Congress does not continue the cap, they could spike to 39.6%.
Yikes!
Dividend-paying stocks tend to outperform non-paying shares, and
the fact remains that dividends can continue to be an ample source
of income for an investor. In the short-term, at least, the higher
tax may affect those dividend-paying stocks that have higher
payouts.
For more stories about dividends, visit our
dividend category
.
-
SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEArca: SDY)
-
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEArca: VIG)
-
PowerShares High Yield Dividend Achievers (NYSEArca:
PEY)
-
WisdomTree Dividend Top 100 (NYSEArca: DTN)
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.