Dividend.com: Estee Lauder Glam

Estee Lauder Makes Investors Look, Feel Good

Estee Lauder (EL Quote) reported a solid double-digit sales increase this past quarter. The company's sales rose 14% to $2.01 billion from $1.76 billion.

International sales are booming, now representing 59% of the company's total revenue (up from 54% last year). Specifically, the company reported 21% revenue growth in both Asia and Europe. Management sees growth in emerging markets as a big driver of the earnings contributions. Mature markets like the Americas saw sales grow 4.2% to $3.71 billion.

We liked the company before this report, and we like it even more now. The ability to grow market share in the emerging markets is not an easy task, but management is executing its plan beautifully. The stock has a dividend yield of 1.22%, based on last night's closing stock price of $44.96.

Estee Lauder is a "Recommended" dividend stock, holding a Dividend.com Rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars.

PMI Group Announces Sales of Australian and Asian Units

PMI Group(PMI Quote) is receiving some positive buzz this morning. The company is in the process of selling its Australian mortgage insurance subsidiary, as well as its Asian mortgage business.

The company will sell its Australian mortgage insurance subsidiary to Australia's largest international general insurance and reinsurance group, QBE Insurance Group Ltd., for $920 million. QBE will also be buying PMI's Asian mortgage business, but not figures were given on that transaction yet.

PMI Group is one of several mortgage insurers that have had to pay claims to investors that hold mortgages which have defaulted or have gone through foreclosure. Although the sales of these units are positive steps, foreclosures are continuing to gain prevalence, and bottom-fishing in a stock like PMI is strictly for nimble traders, not long-term investors. We prefer to wait till we have a better grasp on a potential turnaround situation.

PMI Group is not a recommended dividend stock at this time, holding a Dividend.com rating of 2.2 out of 5 stars.