Furniture Yields Won't Polish Your Returns

This column was originally published on RealMoney on April 5 at 1 p.m. EDT. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers. For more information about subscribing to RealMoney, please click here.

Think you can sit back and collect dividends investing in furniture stocks? On the surface, Furniture Brands(FBN Quote) and La-Z-Boy(LZB Quote) both offer yields north of 3.8%, twice the payout of the average stock in the S&P 500. That said, after digging through the finances and weighing sales trends for these industries, it may be safer to keep your money in the mattress instead.

Furniture Brands yields 4% at Wednesday's closing price of $15.84. The company sells its wares under the Broyhill, Lane and Thomasville brand names and pays out 16 cents a share each quarter. FBN has boosted its payout two straight years but only kept its dividend steady in February when it was on track for another increase. ...