High dividend and total return

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap ≥ $2,000,000,000

   • Purpose: Focus on mid- and large-cap companies.
   • Rationale: Larger, established firms are more likely to sustain dividends and total returns over time. Very small companies can have attractive yields, but often with higher risk, less stable cash flows, and greater price volatility. This supports your goal of “strong total returns” with fewer blow‑ups.

2. 1-Year Price Change ≥ +10%

   • Purpose: Target stocks that have already delivered solid recent total returns.
   • Rationale: Total return = price appreciation + dividends. By requiring at least a 10% price gain over the last year, the screen avoids “high yield because the price crashed” situations and instead focuses on names where the market has been rewarding the business, not punishing it.

3. 5-Year Dividend CAGR ≥ 3%

   • Purpose: Ensure the dividends are growing, not just high today.
   • Rationale: A growing dividend is a sign of improving earnings and disciplined capital allocation. It boosts your future income and total return, and helps the stock keep pace with inflation. A 3%+ compound annual growth rate over five years shows a consistent commitment to raising payouts.

4. Dividend Yield (TTM) Between 3% and 8%

   • Purpose: Capture “high but not alarmingly high” yields.
   • Rationale:
     • Below 3%: usually not considered “high yield.”
     • Above ~8%: often a red flag that the market expects a cut, or that the business is distressed.
       This range aims to give you meaningfully above‑market income while filtering out many of the most fragile high-yield names.

5. Dividend Payout Ratio Between 20% and 80%

   • Purpose: Balance dividend attractiveness with sustainability.
   • Rationale:
     • Below 20%: company may be under‑distributing and not really a focused income play.
     • Above 80%: leaves little buffer if profits dip, raising the risk of a cut.
       The 20–80% band looks for businesses that return a substantial portion of earnings to shareholders but still retain enough to reinvest for growth, which supports both stable dividends and long‑term total returns.

Why Results Match Your Request

• High dividend yields: Enforced directly by the 3–8% dividend yield filter, plus a payout ratio that suggests the yield is reasonably supported by earnings.
• Strong total returns:
  • Recent price appreciation filter (≥10% in 1 year) captures stocks that have already delivered price-based returns.
  • 5-year dividend growth and a sustainable payout ratio support both ongoing income growth and the business strength needed for continued capital appreciation.
• Risk control: The market cap and payout ratio filters help avoid the smallest, most fragile firms and the most extreme, potentially unsustainable yields—tilting the list toward higher‑quality income and return profiles.