Divedend stocks

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap ≥ $2B ('market_cap': {'min': '2000000000'})

   • Purpose: Focus on mid- to large-cap companies.
   • Rationale: When people ask about “dividend stocks,” they typically want more established, financially stable businesses. Larger companies are more likely to have predictable cash flows and a history of paying (and sustaining) dividends, reducing the risk of cuts compared with very small or speculative firms.

2. Sectors: Utilities, Consumer Non-Cyclicals, Financials, Energy, Telecom
   ('sector': ['Utilities', 'Consumer Non-Cyclicals', 'Financials', 'Energy', 'Telecommunications Services'])

   • Purpose: Target sectors traditionally associated with reliable dividends.
   • Rationale:
     • Utilities and Telecom: Often regulated or subscription-based revenue; classic “bond proxy” sectors with stable dividends.
     • Consumer Non-Cyclicals (staples): Demand is steady (food, beverages, household items), supporting consistent cash flows and dividends.
     • Financials (especially banks, insurers): Historically income-oriented, often returning capital via dividends.
     • Energy: Many energy companies, particularly integrated oil & gas, have long histories of paying meaningful dividends.
       These are commonly where investors look first for core dividend holdings.

3. Industries within those sectors
   ('industry': ['Electric Utilities & IPPs', 'Multiline Utilities', 'Natural Gas Utilities', 'Water & Related Utilities', 'Food & Tobacco', 'Beverages', 'Food & Drug Retailing', 'Banking Services', 'Insurance', 'Oil & Gas', 'Oil & Gas Related Equipment and Services', 'Telecommunications Services'])

   • Purpose: Narrow to the most dividend-relevant industries inside those sectors.
   • Rationale:
     • Focuses on regulated or essential services (electric, gas, water utilities; telecom; food & drug retailing) that tend to maintain payouts even in weaker economies.
     • Includes staples (food, beverages, tobacco) which are classic dividend-paying industries.
     • Banking Services and Insurance are primary dividend payers in financials.
     • Oil & Gas and related equipment/services: many firms here are known for substantial cash returns to shareholders through dividends.
       This avoids sector sub-areas that might be less consistent with dividends (e.g., highly speculative or growth-only segments).

4. Listing Exchange: NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX
   ('list_exchange': ['XNYS', 'XNAS', 'XASE'])

   • Purpose: Restrict to major U.S. exchanges.
   • Rationale:
     • Ensures better liquidity, reporting standards, and data quality—important for serious dividend analysis.
     • Keeps the universe to well-followed names, which is usually what people mean when they ask for dividend-stock analysis (as opposed to obscure OTC or foreign listings).

5. 5-Year Dividend CAGR ≥ 3%
   ('dividend_5yr_cagr': {'min': '3'})

   • Purpose: Require a history of growing dividends, not just paying them.
   • Rationale:
     • A minimum 3% compound annual growth in dividends over 5 years indicates the company is not only maintaining but progressively increasing shareholder income.
     • This aligns with a key quality metric dividend investors look for: consistent dividend growth as a sign of underlying earnings strength and shareholder-friendly capital allocation.

6. Dividend Yield (TTM) between 3% and 8%
   ('dividend_yield_ttm': {'min': '3', 'max': '8'})

   • Purpose: Target a balance between attractive income and sustainability.
   • Rationale:
     • ≥ 3%: Screens out very low-yield “token” payers that aren’t meaningful for income-focused investors.
     • ≤ 8%: Avoids extremely high yields, which often signal elevated risk of dividend cuts or financial distress (a “yield trap”).
       This range is typical for mainstream dividend portfolios: high enough to matter, but not so high that it usually indicates serious problems.

7. Dividend Payout Ratio between 20% and 70%
   ('dividend_payout_ratio': {'min': '20', 'max': '70'})

   • Purpose: Ensure dividends are funded by earnings at a reasonable, sustainable level.
   • Rationale:
     • ≥ 20%: Indicates the company is actually sharing a meaningful portion of profits with shareholders (not just a token payout).
     • ≤ 70%: Leaves room for reinvestment, debt reduction, and cushions against earnings volatility, which lowers the risk of a cut.
       This range is often considered a “healthy” payout band for many mature businesses.

Why Results Match Your Request

• The filters home in on established, income-oriented sectors and industries that are traditionally used for dividend investing.
• They require both a solid yield today (3–8%) and evidence of dividend growth (5-year CAGR ≥ 3%), matching what most investors mean by “dividend stocks” worth analyzing.
• The payout ratio limits and minimum market cap help focus on financially healthier, more stable companies, which are more appropriate for serious dividend analysis rather than speculative or unsustainable payers.

Overall, these criteria give you a focused list of mainstream, reasonably sustainable dividend stocks suitable for further analysis.