What is Risk?

Image Source: Mike Cohen By Matt Warren Let’s start by talking about what isn’t risk. Risk isn’t easily measured and yet that is what the asset management industry and academia tend to serve up to the average and professional investor alike. You will see the standard deviation of a stock or portfolio, showing how much the value wiggles. You will see beta, which shows how much the value wiggles as compared to the benchmark’s own wiggles. You will see things like the Sharpe and Sortino ratios, which tackle further quantifiable ways to describe risk–and the list of equations goes on and on. Do you know what is a much more difficult question for an asset manager to answer? How much … Read more

What About BDCs?

Business Development Companies, or BDCs, are often considered by dividend investors as a result of their quite sizable dividend yields, as compared to the overall market. In this piece, let’s take a look at how these companies operate and then also compare some important metrics between the various players. First, let’s looks at the below slide from Prospect Capital, which highlights some important differentiating features of BDCs. Image Source: Prospect Capital Investor Presentation Importantly, please know that you will need to consult a tax professional to determine how to treat the various dividend and return of capital from BDCs. Let’s also look at the below graphic from Prospect Capital (PSEC), which highlights the growth in BDCs over the past 10 … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week February 12

Below we provide a list of firms that raised their dividends during the week ending February 12. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week AllianceBernstein (AB): now $0.97 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.69. Allison Transmission Holdings (ALSN): now $0.19 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.17. Alpine Income Property Trust (PINE): now $0.24 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.22. Ameren (AEE): now $0.55 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.52. American Assets Trust (AAT): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.25. Amtek (AME): now $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, was … Read more