Ennis Inc. (EBF, Financial) and FirstEnergy Corp. (FE, Financial) announced their next dividends before the opening of regular trading on Tuesday, Sept. 21.
Dividend investors may want to consider these stocks as they have been paying dividends for decades and have increased their payments faster than the S&P 500 over the past one-, three- and five-year periods. Furthermore, they offer a higher dividend yield than the benchmark index for the U.S. market, which was at 1.33% as of early trading on Tuesday.
Ennis
On Tuesday, the Midlothian, Texas-based manufacturer and seller of business forms and other products in the United States announced it will pay a quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents per common share on Nov. 5. The payment will be in line with the previous distribution. Shareholders must be on the company's record no later than Oct. 8 if they want to benefit. The ex-dividend date is scheduled for Oct. 7.
Ennis (EBF, Financial) has been paying consecutive dividends for about 32 years, increasing them by 5.1% over the past three years and by 6.3% over the past five years compared to the S&P 500’s growth rates of 1.7% and 3.2%.
The company has approximately $82 million in cash on hand and approximately $49.2 million in trailing 12-month operating cash flow as of Aug. 31 to support the payment of the quarterly dividend.
GuruFocus has assigned a score of 8 out of 10 to the company's financial strength and a 6 out of 10 rating to its profitability.
The share price has grown by 4.62% over the past year to $18.13 as of early trading on Tuesday for a forward dividend yield of 5.53% (versus the S&P 500's yield of 1.33%), a market cap of $471.95 million and a 52-week range of $15.18 to $22.24.
On Wall Street, the stock has one recommendation rating of buy with a price target of $24 per share.
FirstEnergy
On Tuesday, the Akron, Ohio-based producer and distributor of electricity in the U.S. announced it will pay a quarterly cash dividend of 39 cents per common share on Dec. 1 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 5. The ex-dividend date is scheduled for Nov. 4. The payment will be in line with the previous distribution.
FirstEnergy (FE, Financial) has distributed consecutive dividends for approximately 23 years and increased them by 1.3% over the past year and by 2.7% over the past three years compared to the S&P 500’s drop of 2.3% over the past year and its past three years growth of 1.72%.
The company funds the payment of the quarterly dividend with about $1.25 billion available in cash on hand and $2.62 billion in trailing 12-month operating cash flow as of June 29.
GuruFocus has assigned a score of 3 out of 10 to the company's financial strength and a 5 out of 10 rating to its profitability.
The share price has risen by 29.12% over the past year to trade at $36.89 as of early trading on Tuesday for a forward dividend yield of 4.23% (versus the S&P 500 yield of 1.33%), a market cap of $20.08 billion and a 52-week range of $26.165 to $39.94.
On Wall Street, the stock has a median recommendation rating of overweight with an average target price of $43.36 per share.
