matisse capital management

Dividend Slashers - 12/21

Recently, the dividend slashers have included a lot of industrial companies and REITs.  And of course, more financials.  This has also been a tough year for some companies on the Dividend Aristocrat list,  as the index requires a dividend that increases each year for the last 25 years.  Pfizer (PFE) recently elected not to raise its dividend in 2009, but rather to hold it steady ar $0.32 per share, quarterly.  This means the stock will fall off the aristocrats list.  Here are some recent dividend slashing companies to add to a growing list: 

   ALV, Autoliv, Inc. - from $0.41 to $0.21 per share, quarterly

   FDEF, First Defiance Financial - from $0.26 to $0.17 per share, quarterly

   FITB, Fifth Third Bancorp - from $0.44 to $0.15 to $0.01 per share, quarterly

   HST, Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. - from $0.20 to $0.05, quarterly

   NOX, Newberger Berman Income Opportunity Fund - from $0.106 to $0.05, monthly

   OMX, Office Max Inc. - from $0.15 per quarter to suspended

   RYL, Ryland Group, Inc. - from $0.12 to $0.03 per share, quarterly

   UMPQ, Umpqua Holdings - from $0.19 to $0.05, quarterly

   WNC, Wabash National Corp. - from $0.045 quarterly to suspended

   WY, Weyerhaeuser Co. - from $0.60 to $0.25 per share, quarterly

Analysis Brief: Sysco Corp. (SYY)

Sysco Corporation (Ticker: SYY) recently announced that it was increasing its quarterly dividend from $0.22 per share to $0.24 per share, left.  As there aren't many companies increasing dividends these days, I decided to take a detailed look at Sysco, to see if I might be interested in investing.   The company was founded in 1969 and is headquarter in Houston, Texas.  More after the jump.

Ten More Companies Raising Dividends

     BDX, Becton, Dickinson Co. - from $0.285 to $0.33, quarterly, +15.6%

     ENB, Enbridge, Inc. - from $0.33 to $0.37, quarterly, +12.1%

     HRL, Hormel Foods Corporation - from $0.185 to $0.19, quarterly, +2.7%

     LECO, Lincoln Electric Holdings - from $0.25 to $0.27, quarterly, +8.0%

     MKC, McCormick & Co. - from $0.22 to $0.24, quarterly, +9.1%

     OGE, OGE Energy Corp. - from $0.35 to $0.355, quarterly, +1.4%

     SJI, South Jersey Industries - from $0.27 to $0.2975, quarterly, +10.2%

     SYK, Stryker Corporation - from $0.33 to $0.40, annually, +33.3%

     WEC, Wisconsin Energy Corp. - from $0.27 to $0.3375, quarterly, +25.0%

     YORW, York Water Company - from $0.121 to $0.126, quarterly, +4.1%

Disclosure: The author is long BDX, LECO and MKC

More Companies Cutting Dividends

     ABK, Ambac Financial Group - from $0.01 to suspended, quarterly

     AGIBY.PK, Anglo Irish Bank Plc - from $0.12 (semi-annually) to suspended

     FCX, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. - from $0.50 to suspended, quarterly

     FRO, Frontline Ltd. - from $3.00 per share to $0.50 per share, quarterly

     PPS, Post Properties, Inc.  - from $0.45 to $0.20 per share, quarterly

     RPT, Ramco Gershenson Properties - from $0.46 to $0.2313, quarterly

     SPPR, Supertel Hospitality Inc. - from $0.13 to $0.08 per share quarterly