The Latest on the Highest Dividend Yields in the Market

Welcome to the sixth issue of The Big Dividend Report!

For new readers, in this series my aim is to check under the hood of the biggest dividends in the market and to keep you updated on the latest and greatest. We will limit ourselves to the biggest 20 dividend yields coming from companies with at least $2 billion in market cap.

In our first go-round, we looked at the payout ratio, the most fundamental metric to check for dividend health. In our second report, we looked at recent price movements in this volatile market. In our third report, we looked at recent news for the mortgage REIT industry. Our fourth report highlighted possible opportunities in foreign telecom. And our fifth report focused on master limited partnerships and Nokia news.

Let's take a look at where those same 20 companies stand today.

Sources: Yahoo! Finance and S&P Capital IQ.

As of Friday's close, four of the five mortgage REITs on our list (Chimera, Hatteras, MFA, and Annaly) were trading closer to their 52-week lows than their 52-week highs. Surprisingly, the biggest yielder of all, American Capital Agency, is trading closer to 52-week highs (as stock prices go down, yields go up).

Now, to be clear, the price volatility of these stocks has been quite low versus the market. That said, what's been troubling investors recently is the fear of evolving SEC regulations. This Barron's piece gives a good overview of what's going on. It gives a helpful rundown of why the SEC is focused a bit more on the mortgage REITs these days and gives some positive words from Annaly CEO Mike Farrell.

Outside the mREITs, let's talk Frontier Communications. Last week, I bumped it against two other high dividend players (Annaly and Altria) in five categories. Although it didn't win, I do think Frontier is a stock to look into given its depressed stock price.

Staying in the telecom sector, I'll point you to an excellent series one of my fellow Fools, Dan Caplinger, writes. Last week, he took a look at CenturyLink and how close to perfection it comes. It's a good place to start your research on a company, in this case CenturyLink.

This ends our sixth issue of The Big Dividend Report. Things should get interesting as we head into earnings season! To keep track of all our analysis on any of these companies, including future issues of The Big Dividend Report, click here to add them to MyWatchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Anand Chokkaveluowns shares of Frontier Communications and Altria.You can follow his thoughts onTwitter.The Motley Fool owns shares of Veolia Environnement, Annaly Capital Management, Chimera Investment, and Altria.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Cellcom Israel. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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