Hop into a time machine and travel back to the late 1990s. The tech sector was on top and investors plowed plenty of big bucks into “Dot-com Mania.”
We all know what happened, but the resulting firms that survived the bust went on to become the sector’s largest forces. And that includes our Best Dividend Stocks List pick. Thanks to its strong leadership position in its core product market, our pick has continued to deliver strong cash flows to its bottom line for decades.
But our pick isn’t resting on its former laurels.
Our tech selection basically invented the idea of recurring revenue and cross-selling in the sector. Expanding into a variety of tangential industries, our pick continues to score big-time service revenues from clients. Selling equipment has taken a backseat to services and software. All of this has translated into billions in cash on its balance sheet and has made our pick a dividend giant. Since our selection back in January, the stock has already hiked its dividend by nearly 14%.
With its torrid pace of cash generation still going, dividend investors can be assured of more increases down the road.
To summarize, here are five reasons why you should own this stock:
- Recorded nearly $50 billion in sales for all of 2017, representing a 2% year-over-year increase.
- Since paying its first dividend in 2011, it has grown its payout by 450%.
- Extensive portfolio of high-margined services, software and recurring revenue business lines.
- Nearly $70 billion in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet at the end of last year, with around $14 billion in cash flows from its operations.
- Healthy payout ratio of 56% and yield of 3.1%.
Check out our original pick here.
