Out Fox The $treet

Northrop Grumman hits peak decade high P/E multiples. The company continues to reduce stock buyback levels despite approvals for spending another $4 billion. The warning signs are starting to stack up against the stock rallying further this year. After again  raising full-year guidance ,  Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC ) continues to show signs of peaking. One has to wonder if the massive gains of the last few years haven't built in irrational expectations for the next couple of years.  Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.   Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.

The top ten net payout yields outperformed the market in July due to several stocks with monthly gains in excess of 9%. The top ten net payout yield stocks average yields of 14.7% to start August. Motorola Solutions continues to hold the highest yield now at 25.7%. This article is a continuation of a monthly series highlighting the top net payout yield (NYSE: NPY ) stocks that was started back in June 2012 (see article ) and explained in August 2012 (see article ). The series highlights the best stocks for the upcoming month utilized in part to make investment decisions for the Covestor model that has beaten the S&P 500 for four consecutive years. Please review the original articles for more information on the NPY concept. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long GM, HIG, MSI, NLY, NOC, NTAP, TRV, VIAB. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The top ten net payout yields underperformed the market in June due to several stocks with larger losses than the S&P 500 index. The top ten net payout yield stocks average yields of 14.0% to start July. Motorola Solutions continues to hold the highest yield now at 27.0%. This article is a continuation of a monthly series highlighting the top net payout yield (NYSE: NPY ) stocks that was started back in June 2012 (see article ) and explained in August 2012 (see article ). The series highlights the best stocks for the upcoming month utilized in part to make investment decisions for the Covestor model that has beaten the S&P 500 for four consecutive years. Please review the original articles for more information on the NPY concept. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long HIG, MSI, NLY, NOC, NTAP, TRV, VIAB. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The top ten net payout yields underperformed the market in April due to a couple of weak individual stocks. The top ten net payout yield stocks averaged yields of 13.6% to start May. Motorola Solutions continues to hold the highest yield now at 25.8%. This article is a continuation of a monthly series highlighting the top net payout yield (NYSE: NPY ) stocks that was started back in June 2012 (see article ) and explained in August 2012 (see article ). The series highlights the best stocks for the upcoming month utilized in part to make investment decisions for the Covestor model that has beaten the S&P 500 for four consecutive years. Please review the original articles for more information on the NPY concept. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long HIG, MSI, NLY, NOC, NTAP, TRV, VIAB.

Summary Top net payout yield stocks outperformed the market in August. The top ten net payout yield stocks average 12.6% yields to start August. CF Industries and Illinois Tool Works jumped to the top of the list with massive stock buybacks.  This article is a continuation of a monthly series highlighting the top net payout yield (NYSE: NPY ) stocks that was started back in June, 2012 (see article ) and explained in August, 2012 (see article ). The series highlights the best stocks for the upcoming month. Please review the original articles for more information on the NPY concept. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long CTL, KSS, NLY, NOC, SDRL, TRV, WLP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.

Summary Net Payout Yield stocks outperformed the market in March. The Top 10 Net Payout Yield stocks averaged 11.9% yields. Dollar Tree joined the list for April and Halliburton dropped off. This article is a continuation of a monthly series highlighting the top net payout yield ( NPY ) stocks that was started back in June, 2012 (see article ) and explained in August, 2012 (see article ). The series highlights the best stocks for the upcoming month. Please review the original articles for more information on the NPY concept. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long AAPL, CTL, HAL, NLY, NOC, SDRL, T. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Summary List of top net payout yield stocks for March. Reviews returns from the February list. Discusses the benefits of net payout yields. This article is a continuation of a monthly series highlighting the top net payout yield (NPY) stocks that was started back in June, 2012 (see article ) and explained in August, 2012 (see article ). The series highlights the best stocks for the upcoming month. Please review the original articles for more information on the NPY concept. February Returns Below are two charts highlighting the monthly returns of the top ten stocks from February (see list here ). Due to limitations with YCharts, the chart was broken into the Top 5 and Next 5 lists. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long CTL, DTV, HAL, MSI, NLY, NOC, and T. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Though investors had every right to expect the defense sector to struggle over the last year, the way defense stocks Lockheed Martin ( NYSE: LMT     ), Northrop Grumman ( NYSE: NOC     ), and Raytheon ( NYSE: RTN     ) spent their precious shareholder capital sent other signals. Coming into 2012, these three businesses poured substantial amounts into share buybacks. In addition, all three pay solid dividends, providing astute investors signs that their ability to generate strong cash flows might have exceeded the market's expectations. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long LMT and NOC. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

This model was up 3.4% in April versus a 1.8% gain for the benchmark S&P 500. The model out performed the market in April to build onto a solid start from the first quarter of 2013. As of the end of April, the model was up nearly 15.1% for the year compared to 12.0% for the S&P 500.   In general, the model remains very uneventful with only one trade for the month. Bottom Performers Since the model had a strong month, only a couple of stocks had a negative return for April. The weakest stock was Motorola Solutions (MSI) with a loss of over 10%. Only a few other stocks even posted a loss and none of those are worth mentioning. Motorola Solutions reported a weak quarterly report that sent the stock down significantly. The theory of the model doesn’t care about the fundamentals of the company so the key will be whether the management team continues to buyback stock and pay dividends. With a dividend yield of only 1.8%, the key with this stock will...

This article is a continuation of a monthly series highlighting the top net payout yield stocks that was started in June, 2012 (see article ). The series highlights the best stocks for the upcoming month. Please review the original article for more information on the net payout yield concept. February Returns Below are two charts highlighting the monthly returns of the top ten stocks from February (see list here ). Due to limitations with YCharts, the chart was broken into the Top 5 and Next 5 lists. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long AMP, DTV, KSS, MSI, NLY, NOC, and WLP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The defense sector has been under attack for the last few years as federal government budget cuts pressure the major companies in the sector. The surprising part is that the associated stocks continue to support very strong dividend yields combined with major stock buyback programs. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ) , Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC ) , and Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN ) have not only survived the cuts, but in most cases the companies more » Disclosure: Long LMT, NOC, RTN. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

This article is a continuation of a monthly series highlighting the top net payout yield stocks that was started in June, 2012 (see  article ). The series highlights the best stocks for the upcoming month. Please review the original article for more information on the net payout yield concept. January Returns Below are two charts highlighting the monthly returns of the top ten stocks from January (see list  here ). Due to limitations with YCharts, the chart was broken into the Top 5 and Next 5 lists. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: Long AMP, COP, DTV, KSS, MSI, NLY, and WLP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

This article is a continuation of a monthly series highlighting the top net payout yield stocks that was started in June (see article). The series highlights the best stocks for the upcoming month. Net Payout Yields Defined The net payout yield is the combination of the dividend yield and the net buyback yield added together to calculate the yield returned to shareholders. The net buyback yield adds stock repurchases and subtracts shares issued. The yield is calculated using the amount of buybacks over the last four quarters divided by the current market cap. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long COP, DTV, GS, KSS, MSI, WLP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) continues to report earnings that prove revenue growth can be over rated. The defense contractor reported Q3 2012 revenue that slightly dropped from the $12.1B in 2011, yet the company managed to beat earnings estimate and hike the dividend yield by 15%. The amazing story about this stock is that even with the stock hitting multi-year highs, the stock will now yield 5% after this hike to a $1.15 dividend per quarter. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclsoure: Long LMT. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

This article is a continuation of a monthly series highlighting the top net payout yield stocks that was started in June (see article). The series highlights the best stocks for the upcoming month. Net Payout Yields Defined The net payout yield is the combination of the dividend yield and the net buyback yield added together to calculate the yield returned to shareholders. The net buyback yield adds stock repurchases and subtracts shares issued. The yield is calculated using the amount of buybacks over the last four quarters divided by the current market cap. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long COP, GS, KSS, MSI, and WLP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Not too surprisingly, the top net payout yield stocks from June (see article ) remained mostly intact as the month ended. Only Motorola Solutions, Inc. (MSI) was confirmed as a new addition to the list. Both Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (AMP) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX) tied for tenth on the July list with a 15.37% yield. So technically, no stock rolled off the list. The Covestor model typically holds over 20 stocks so neither stock would need to be sold, but anybody playing at home with ten stocks could just leave the model alone in order to avoid trading costs. Look to add Motorola Solutions to the model as one of those stocks lowers the yield via more stock gains or the reduction of a buyback. For those not familiar with net payout yields, it is the combination of the dividend yield and the net buyback yield. In essence, it is the percentage paid to investors. A typical fund focuses on dividends while some focus on buybacks, but recent history has shown that the stocks paying the l...

After the close on Tuesday, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) announced a headline grabbing additional $3 billion share-repurchase program. With a market cap approaching $60 billion, investors quickly gravitated to the potential for a repurchase of 5% of the outstanding shares. Not so fast! Further details in the announcement indicate that the last $3 billion repurchase plan hasn't even been completed in the two years since its announcement in May 2010. Not to mention research indicates that the net buyback will be significantly lower due to large amounts of stock options. Figure 1 below highlights the actual net payout yields (net buyback + dividend) for the last five quarters. Not as appetizing as originally presented by the headline grabbing number. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha Disclosure: Long COP and KSS. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

After a big selloff, the advantages of Net Payout Yield stocks really comes into focus. These companies benefit from the strategic ability to repurchase shares and issue dividends. The market is currently enamored with dividend stocks, but those stocks don't exactly benefit investors when the stock drops. Investors are stuck with capital losses while collecting dividends, but the company can't do anything with the lower stock price to benefit shareholders. Companies that participate in large buybacks though have the ability to repurchase shares at much cheaper levels now. This benefit has largely been ignored by the markets over the years with the general sentiment that share repurchases aren't effective. The key though is that most investors don't focus on net share repurchases. Companies that greatly reduce the stock float provide more earnings for shareholders. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long AMP, COP, DTV, GPS, GS, KSS, and TWX. Please...

Nothing like taking a financially strong sector combined with fears of cutbacks to provide for some exciting yields. With major government budget cutbacks expected in the US, the defense sector went through a few rough quarters in 2011. Investors feared the worse. At the end of the day though, the companies remain strong and according to a Bloomberg report, most of the top dividend yielding stocks in the Capital Goods sector belong to the defense sector. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long LMT and RTN. Please read the disclaimer page for more details. 

Investors continue to focus on dividends as the best and in some minds the only way to return capital to shareholders. That remains a big mistake as the population of stocks with a high dividend payout ratio, not to mention ones that even pay dividends has been shrinking just about every decade. Several key factors have influenced these decisions. First, the historical tax disadvantage of dividends versus long term capital gains has worked to weaken the focus on dividends. Second, the SEC instituting rule 10b-18 back in 1982 made it easier for firms to implement buybacks without stock manipulation charges. Third, market participants place such a great emphasis on maintaining steadily increasing dividends that corporate boards prefer the flexibility of buyback programs over the negativity of reducing a dividend. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long COP, GPS, KSS, TRV. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.