Any time you see a stock's yield continuing to rise over time, two scenarios are possible (or a combination of the two). Either said company has continued to raise its dividend over time, or its share price has fallen, or both.
I like looking at how yields have performed in recent years on large-cap stocks, with particular emphasis on the Dow Jones Industrial Index, as these companies generally have two things going for them: they're sufficiently large to make the cut to be listed on the Dow, and they are generally in the bucket of low-cyclicality/defensive stocks which I prefer to invest in.
As such, any investor who follows trading strategies such as the "Dogs of the Dow" will be familiar with the three companies I'm about to mention. They've been dogs for some time now, and have generally traded in a horizontal fashion in recent years, while the rest of the stock market just saw a bump around 30% this past year.
I like taking a look at these companies, as the fundamentals underpinning their operations are typically solid, though these companies may indeed lack a growth story, which has hindered these companies' equity appreciation, given all the other great companies out there that are growing at breakneck speed.
The three companies I'd encourage dividend investors to check out today to build a solid income-producing portfolio are: Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM), and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ).
Investing in a portfolio of these three companies will provide dividend yields of 5%, 4.8%, and 4%, respectively, for an average yield of 4.6% - not too shabby for income-oriented investors looking for an income boost every year along with potential capital appreciation.
Invest wisely, my friends.
