Dividend.com: D.R. Horton Cutting Payout

Fourth-quarter profit dropped to $67.8 million, or 50 cents a share, down from $101.2 million, or 73 cents, a year earlier. Analysts had expected 48 cents per share for the quarter.

As for next year's guidance, Hormel said 2009 profit could rise to $2.15 to $2.25 a share, up from $2.08 per share this year.

We have been avoiding shares of Hormel Foods since our early June coverage began, when shares were trading around $40. The company currently has a 2.53% dividend yield, based on last night's closing price of $29.24. We would avoid the shares at these levels, as the company's dividend yield is not enough to cushion any further erosion of share values.

Hormel Foods is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com Rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars.

Eaton Vance Profits Drop 43%, but Beats Estimates

Fund manager Eaton Vance(EV Quote) reported a 43% drop in profit Tuesday, as the financial crisis dug into clients' assets and slowed investment money flowing into the company's funds.

Assets under management fell 21% in the quarter, from $155.8 billion at the end of July to $123.1 billion at the end of October. Net inflows into the company's funds slowed to only $300 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $5.8 billion in the third quarter.

Excluding unrealized and impairment losses, the company's numbers came in at 37 cents a share, above analyst estimates of 32 cents a share.

We have been avoiding Eaton Vance shares since our early June coverage began, when shares were trading at the $41 level. The company currently has a dividend yield of 4.14%, based on last night's closing price of $14.97.