Citi Screens for Stocks with Decent Div. Yields and/or Growth
Highlights global divs. have risen 15% since 2011 in USD despite flat EPS.
* Says a drop in div. yld from 3.1% to 2.5% seems less intimidating than 12x to 17x rise in trailing PE * Says payout ratios have risen but are still well below historic norms; sees plenty of scope for cos. to pay out more * Says div. growth has become increasingly important driver of global equities, perhaps more important than EPS growth * Also sees evidence that div. growth is now as important as yld in driving price performance * Screens for those regions, sectors, stocks that offer best trade-off between div. yld and growth * Among regions says CEEMEA shows strongly * Among global sectors, says Financials stands out * Imposes 2% yield cut-off to stop it being dominated by cos. increasing divs from very low base; also limit number of Financials to 10 stocks - List includes KBC, SocGen, Maybank, Danske Bank, Credit Agricole, UniCredit, Lloyds Banking, UBS, Capital One, Swedbank, Agrium Inc, CA Inc, Apple, Ford Motor, Las Vegas Sands, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Phillips 66, Cisco Systems, Sands China, The Williams Companies, Woodside Petroleum, Seagate Technology, Toyota Motor, Kraft Foods, AbbVie, Japan Tobacco, Mosaic Co, Valero Energy Corp, EADS, HeidelbergCement, Lukoil, Givaudan, Marathon Petroleum, Macy’s Inc, JFE Holdings, Mobile Telesystems OJSC, MTN Group, Telenor, Seadrill, Nissan Motor