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JANUARY 2016

Issue 106

 
 

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Preferred Stock Investing, 5th Edition

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Free Preferred Stock Resources

 

In This Issue:

High Quality Preferred Stocks

Preferred Stock News

Special Announcement

More Preferred Stock Research

Free Special Offer

 
         

 

 

"Very comprehensive and thoughtful analysis based on sound fundamentals. The service is a great way to keep up to date on the investment class and specific issues.”

- from Michael T., CDx3 Notification Service subscriber, December 1, 2015. See more preferred stock investor reviews here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Doug K. Le Du

 

Preferred stock researcher

PortfolioChannel contributor

Syndicated writer

Author

 

 

 

 

89 Reader Reviews

 

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See page 1 of this month's issue of the subscriber's newsletter, CDx3 Research Notes, for symbols.

 

 

 

 

 

HIGH QUALITY PREFERRED STOCKS

 

Top 10 Investment Grade, Cumulative Preferreds Available Under $25

 

 

The ten highest quality preferred stocks that are selling for a sub-$25 market price are offering income investors an average 6.1 percent Yield-To-Call in today's preferred stock marketplace.

As rates move up and down over time, prices tend to move in the opposite direction, moving down and up, respectively. This is why preferred stock investing is long-term investing, taking advantage of the known inverse relationship between rates and prices over time.

The search engine parameters seen in Figure 1 look for preferred stocks and exchange-traded debt securities (ETDs) that are currently trading below their $25 par value, have cumulative dividends (meaning that if the issuing company skips a dividend payment to you, they still owe you the money) and offer investment grade ratings from Moody's Investors Service.

Currently priced below par

Purchasing shares below $25 is an important consideration for many preferred stock investors. In the event that your shares are redeemed (bought back from you) by the issuing company, shareholders will receive the security's par value in cash in exchange for their shares. By purchasing shares below their par value ($25 in most cases and in all of the cases shown here), preferred stock investors are able to add a layer of principal protection to their investment while also positioning themselves for a downstream capital gain in the event of a future call.

 

Figure 1 shows the complete filter used to find these gems. Of the twenty parameters that can be set, the four arrows highlight the keys for this search. Setting the "Currently priced below par" parameter to "Yes" does the magic here.

 

 

In addition to finding the highest quality issues that offer cumulative dividends and are currently trading below their $25 par value, this filter also limits the list to issues that have not suspended their dividend payments. And by setting "Today's price, at least" to $0.01 and "Today's volume, at least" to 1 share the filter will exclude less liquid issues (securities that have not traded today).

This is just one example. Click on the filter image to see another one along with a more detailed explanation.

Results

Figure 2 shows the results when this search is applied to our Preferred Stock List
TM database (please note that to protect the values of subscriptions to our CDx3 Notification Service, trading symbols are obscured here). Already a CDx3 Notification Service subscriber? See page 1 of this month's issue of the subscriber's newsletter, CDx3 Research Notes, that you received at the end of last month for symbols.

 

 

There were a total of 885 preferred stocks and ETDs trading on U.S. stock exchanges as last month came to a close. Of these 885, these are the top ten highest quality issues that are trading below their $25 par value. This list is sorted by dividend rate (coupon) with the highest payers listed first.

The securities shown in green font are ETDs (ETDs are bonds that trade on the stock exchange rather than the bond market and are very similar to preferred socks) while the remaining securities listed are preferred stocks. All have a current market price (seen in the Last Price column) that is below their $25 par value (as shown in the Liquid Price column) and enjoy an investment grade rating from Moody's.

Keep an eye out for sub-$25 buying opportunities such as those listed here. The lower your purchase price, the more principal protection you'll have. The preferred stocks and ETDs listed in Figure 2 are offering some of the best choices available to you as an income investor.
 

Please consider becoming a subscriber to our CDx3 Notification Service today. We offer monthly and annual subscriptions for individuals and groups. Check out these features:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


PREFERRED STOCK NEWS

 

Preferred Stock versus Common Stock Performance for 2015

 

The common stock market, as reflected by the S&P 500 Index, was unable to gain traction last year. Anticipation of a federal funds rate increase was the primary spoiler, although continued instability in the Middle East, low oil prices, a softening economy in China and the Russia/Ukraine wild card added to the uncertainty.


The S&P 500 ended 2014 at 2058.90 and, a year later as 2015 wrapped up, closed at 2043.94, losing 0.7 percent.

 

 

424 of the 500 companies in the S&P 500 Index paid a common dividend with an average current yield of 2.05 percent last year, so common stock investors at least had their dividend yield to point to.

 

Sources: S&P 500 values, SeekingAlpha.com; S&P 500 dividend data, factset.com


Preferred stock returns
 

Preferred stock investors are generally investing for the steady income that these securities provide. With a long-term dividend average of about 7 percent, daily price fluctuations are not the primary focus. But that’s not to say that value appreciation opportunities do not present themselves.

 
Importantly, the market pressures that act upon common stock prices can often be very different than those affecting the market prices of preferred stocks, so you do not want to make the mistake of assuming that if common stock prices are heading up or down the same will be true of their preferred cousins.


In early-2015, for example, renewed turmoil in Greece put upward pressure on the market prices of high-quality U.S. preferred stocks, since many savers there became holders of income securities here.


By high quality, I am referring to those issues favored by most risk-averse preferred stock investors – cumulative dividends, call-protected, investment grade ratings, on so on. While overall preferred stock market prices fell by $1.36 per share throughout 2015 (almost entirely in energy), demand remained strong for high quality issues.
 

High quality preferred stocks started 2015 at an average market price of $25.98 per share and ended the year at $26.13, posting a 0.6 percent value gain.
 

 

You can see prices of both common and high quality preferred stocks drop in September as many market participants came to believe that the Fed was going to start raising interest rates at their September 16-17 FOMC meeting. When no such increase was announced, buyers stepped back in, only to shy away once again as the FOMC’s December meeting approached.


There are obviously many investors who are treating an income investment (preferred stocks) as if it were a value investment (common stock), trying to apply the buy-low-sell-high strategy of a common stock investor to preferred stocks.


Volatility


The following chart shows the percent change in the market price of common stocks versus that of high quality preferred stocks throughout 2015.

 


 

Note how little volatility preferred stock prices exhibited when compared to common stock prices. This is typical since preferred stocks have a par value ($25 per share in all cases used here) that resists price movement (for 2014 data, see “Preferred Stock Versus Common Stock Investing Results”).


Source: Preferred stock data, PreferredStockInvesting.com
 

Higher reward for lower risk
 

Not only did preferred stock investors experience far less price volatility throughout 2015, their dividend income was substantially higher as well. Specifically, while common stock investors saw 2.05 percent in average dividend yield, preferred stock investors buying shares in January 2015 realized an average of 6.6 percent by year-end.


For 2015, preferred stock investors investing in the highest quality issues saw a combined return (value appreciation plus dividends) of 7.2 percent, compared to 1.35 percent for common stock investors.

 


 

While outperforming common stock investors, preferred stock investors were exposed to substantially lower risk.


Remember that dividend cash is always paid to preferred stock shareholders first, before any dividend payments are made to the same company’s common stockholders (hence the name “preferred”).


And note that this analysis is limited to the highest quality preferred stocks, which have cumulative dividends (meaning that if the issuing company skips a payment to you, they still owe you the money; their obligation accumulates). Common stock dividends are, by definition, non-cumulative meaning that they can be cancelled at any time, leaving the shareholder with no recourse whatsoever.


Lastly, where the highest quality preferred stocks used here offer investment grade ratings, common stocks are not rated at all; no quantitative measure of creditworthiness (the ability to make future dividend payments) is offered to those considering buying common stock shares.
 

As with 2014, 2015 provided another case of higher returns with less volatility being realized by those taking substantially lower risk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

 

Preferred Stock Investing, Fifth Edition

Learn how to screen, buy and sell the highest quality preferred stocks

 

Preferred Stock Investing is one of the highest reader-rated books in the United States with 89 reviews posted at Amazon.

The Fifth Edition addresses selecting, buying and selling the highest quality preferred stocks during the market conditions that we are currently facing.

See: Reviews | Table of Contents | Free Excerpt | Paperback | eBook

The Fifth Edition has 21 chapters organized into six Parts over 334 pages. Here are some highlights:

- Part I, "The Preferred Stock Market," introduces a new suite of charts and metrics specifically designed to measure and track the preferred stock marketplace.

- Part III, "Buying the Highest Quality Preferred Stocks," includes several new chapters such as "Buying 'Fed-Free' Preferred Stocks," "Keeping Up with Increasing Interest Rates" and "Buying Less-Than-Perfect Preferred Stocks."

- And chapter 8, "Managing the Risks," has been completely rewritten and expanded to include risks that are unique to preferred stocks during the increasing rate environment that awaits us.

You can pick up a copy of the new Fifth Edition of Preferred Stock Investing at your favorite online retailer such as Amazon (paperback) or directly from BookLocker, the book's publisher (BookLocker provides paperback and PDF eBook formats).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


MORE PREFERRED STOCK RESEARCH

 

Recent Preferred Stock Articles by Doug K. Le Du

 

Here is a list of some of my recent syndicated articles. To view an article, just click on the headline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


FREE SPECIAL OFFER

 

Preferred Stock Market Research Now Available All Month Long - Free

 

Readers do not have to wait until next month's issue of the CDx3 Newsletter to stay plugged into the market for high quality preferred stocks. Preferred stock research articles, marketplace observations and preferred stock news from the financial press and other information are posted to the Preferred Stock Investing Reader's Forum (my "blog") throughout the month.

To receive articles by email automatically without having to visit the Forum, click here

A separate window from FeedBurner (a Google service) will open on your screen. Enter and verify the email address that you want articles from the Forum to be emailed to as instructed. And don't worry - you'll never receive any spam from me and your email address will not be shared.

By receiving the articles as I post them via email, you do not have to visit the Forum in order to stay plugged into my research regarding the marketplace for the highest quality preferred stocks.

Please accept my invitation to receive articles by email and visit the Forum.

 

   
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The content of this newsletter, and the materials that it links to that are owned by Del Mar Research, LLC, are to be regarded as educational, rather than advisory. There can always be exceptions to trends and/or generalizations that may be presented herein. Consider your financial resources and goals before investing. You, and not Del Mar Research, LLC, are solely responsible for your own investing decisions.