While plenty of high-yield opportunities exist, investors must always consider the safety of their dividend and the total return potential of their investment. It is not uncommon for a struggling company to suspend high-yielding dividends which could subsequently result in precipitous share price declines.
TheStreet Ratings' stock rating model views dividends favorably, but not so much that other factors are disregarded. Our model gauges the relationship between risk and reward in several ways, including: the pricing drawdown as compared to potential profit volatility, i.e. how much one is willing to risk in order to earn profits?; the level of acceptable volatility for highly performing stocks; the current valuation as compared to projected earnings growth; and the financial strength of the underlying company as compared to its stock's valuation as compared to its stock's performance.
These and many more derived observations are then combined, ranked, weighted, and scenario-tested to create a more complete analysis. The result is a systematic and disciplined method of selecting stocks. As always, stock ratings should not be treated as gospel — rather, use them as a starting point for your own research.
The following pages contain our analysis of 3 stocks with substantial yields, that ultimately, we have rated "Hold." Arbor Realty Dividend Yield: 8.70% Arbor Realty (NYSE: ABR) shares currently have a dividend yield of 8.70%. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc., a specialized real estate finance company, invests in various structured finance investments. The company has a P/E ratio of 3.66. The average volume for Arbor Realty has been 253,800 shares per day over the past 30 days. Arbor Realty has a market cap of $350.5 million and is part of the real estate industry. Shares are up 1.3% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Tuesday. EXCLUSIVE OFFER: See inside Jim Cramer's multi-million dollar charitable trust portfolio to see the stocks he thinks could be potential winners. Click here to see his holdings for 14-days FREE. TheStreet Ratings rates Arbor Realty as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, notable return on equity and attractive valuation levels. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including weak operating cash flow and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself. Highlights from the ratings report include:
- ABR's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 8.5%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 10.6%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
- The company's current return on equity greatly increased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of significant strength within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry and the overall market, ARBOR REALTY TRUST INC's return on equity exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
- ARBOR REALTY TRUST INC reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. However, we anticipate underperformance relative to this pattern in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, ARBOR REALTY TRUST INC increased its bottom line by earning $1.71 versus $0.41 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 57.9% in earnings ($0.72 versus $1.71).
- In its most recent trading session, ABR has closed at a price level that was not very different from its closing price of one year earlier. This is probably due to its weak earnings growth as well as other mixed factors. The fact that the stock is now selling for less than others in its industry in relation to its current earnings is not reason enough to justify a buy rating at this time.
- Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to $2.27 million or 50.31% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower.
- You can view the full Arbor Realty Ratings Report.
