The
next 2014 Dividend Machine is Meredith Publishing, symbol MDP. This post is a review of MDP’s Dividend
Machine fundamentals.
Meredith,
MDP, is a publisher. This stock is hovering
between its 52 week high of $53.84 and low of $37.28. MDP closed at $44.53 on Friday April 25,
2014.
MDP Dividend Machine
Fundamentals:
Earnings
regularly exceed dividend payout with the past four quarters EPS of $2.36 and
dividends of $1.73. In 2009, MDP did
take a large charge against earnings when their EPS were less than the dividend
paid. However since then, earnings
consistently outpace dividends. MDP’s current
dividend yield is 3.88%. MDP’s next dividend
should be declared about May 8 and paid about June 14. Dividend increases have averaged over 18% per
year over the past 5 years. Debt to
Equity ratio is a very manageable .39.
These fundamentals are presented in the table below.
This
is the kind of stock where you have to trust the Dividend Machine strategy and
not second guess your selection due to other factors. What other factors? Well, MDP is in the publishing business which
one might consider a dying industry.
Meredith just announced that it will no longer publish The Ladies Home
Journal as it has for a long, long time.
Now it will be distributed to newsstands on a quarterly basis. Every paper published has fewer and fewer
pages whether you read the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal or the New
York Post.
Yet,
a closer look at the Meredith specifically reveals a more modern business than meets the
eye. In their own words, today Meredith engages
in not only magazine publishing. It also
owns related brand licensing, television broadcasting, digital and customer
relationship marketing. It operates two
business segments: national media and
local media
Whenever
I second guess my Dividend Machine strategy, I am usually sorry. However, MDP is not exactly a momentum stock
so you have time to digest Meredith’s Dividend Machine Fundamentals before you
determine if MDP is a good fit for the income producing portion of your
portfolio.
TheMoneyMadam
