Looking Past a Nice Dividend: Deere & Company (DE) and More

Can they actually pay that Dividend

A solid payout ratio of 45, this company likes to reward investors, but isn’t too far overboard in their payments. The stat that blows me away is that American has increased their dividend every year since 1955! If that is not consistency I don’t know what is.

Foolish Conclusion

There is always more to look at then a company’s dividend and industry when investing long-term, but they are a great place to start.  Companies that reward their investors through thick and thin with dividend payouts instead of searching for that next great project in which to invest their excess cash are a step ahead of other businesses.  It is hard to predict if an industry will be successful in the future, but looking at trends that will effect it (world population increasing) are always helpful.  Go big or go home is not the model to live by for new investors, and evaluating these two indicators are necessary for jumping into a wild market.

The article Looking Past a Nice Dividend originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Grant Hosticka.

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