Some stocks used to be described as suitable for widows and orphans. Are there any such stocks left?
Thousands of income-starved investors — largely retirees, if not actually widows and orphans — still pine for low-risk stocks with high and predictable dividends. A classic example is the old AT&T, which paid its shareholders exactly $1.50 per share each year from 1922 to 1958, and then raised its payout consistently until 1983, after which the company was forced to break up. In recent years, however, companies have turned away from paying dividends. And with the deregulation of once-predictable industries such as utilities, old-style widows-and-orphans stocks have become extremely rare. Bonds aren’t an ideal alternative: Although companies can raise stock dividends, a bond comes with a fixed-interest coupon. However, if you’re willing to bend the rules to include stocks that pay high and stable dividends but whose prices bounce around more than the old AT&T, you can turn up several dozen candidates, mostly banks, basic industries, oil and gas suppliers, and conservative utilities. E
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