Warren Buffett's Top 10 High-Yielding Stocks
Warren Buffett is not a particular fan of dividends. His Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) has never paid a dividend because, in part, he believes there are always better ways to allocate money than to give it back to shareholders in such a tax-inefficient manner as a dividend payment.
That's why I take particular notice when Buffett invests -- and invests big -- in companies that do pay dividends. There aren't too many things that make me happier than if I can both invest side by side with Buffett and get paid on a regular basis through a dividend to do so.
At Stockpickr we keep track of Buffett's holdings in the
. But now we're also keeping track of the
, which are the top 10 high-yielding stocks in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio.
At the top of the list is
U.S. Bancorp
(USB) - Get Report
, which generates a fairly high yield of 4.6%. The Minneapolis-based bank offers a price-to-earnings ratio of 13 and a PEG ratio (P/E relative to growth) of 1.5. The stock was recently added to the portfolio of
RiverSource Dividend Opportunity Fund
(INUTX), which has racked up a three-year average annual return of 13.8%.
By the way, not only does Buffett own shares in U.S. Bancorp, but U.S. Bancorp makes the list of
, stocks that I believe Buffett's investment vehicle could buy outright.
U.S. Bancorp is also one of the names in the
Steady in Volatile Markets portfolio
, a list of stocks that
SmartMoney
believes will do well in a slowing economy. U.S. Bancorp will likely do well in such a scenario because it's been extremely conservative in how it lends out money. In fact, its credit quality actually went up this past year despite the subprime mortgage mess.
Another high-yield Buffett stock is also a bank stock:
SunTrust Banks
(STI) - Get Report
. The stock provides a yield of 3.3%, and the Atlanta-based bank raised its quarterly dividend this year to 73 cents a share, up from 61 cents. The P/E is 15.4, and the PEG is 1.9. The stock is owned by
, a New York hedge fund with $3 billion under management.
SunTrust has been popping up on our Stockpickr list of
Top Insider Purchases and Buybacks
due to a large stock purchase by a director and the company's own plan for a share buyback.
PetroChina
(PTR) - Get Report
is another high-yield Buffett play. The China-based oil and natural gas company has paid dividends every year for the past seven years, working out to a yield of more than 3%.
PetroChina's P/E is 12.5, and its PEG is a low 0.8. The stock was recently added to the portfolio of
U.S. Global Investors Global Res
(PSPFX), which has generated an average annual return of 42.3% over the past three years.
For the rest of these 10 stocks, check out the
High-Yield Warren Buffett Stocks
portfolio at Stockpickr.com.
At the time of publication, Altucher and/or his fund had no positions in stocks mentioned, although positions may change at any time.
James Altucher is president of Stockpickr LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com and part of its network of Web properties, and a managing partner at Formula Capital, an alternative asset management firm that runs several quantitative-based hedge funds as well as a fund of hedge funds. He is also the author of
Trade Like a Hedge Fund
and
Trade Like Warren Buffett
. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Altucher appreciates your feedback;
to send him an email.
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