Important note on “weekly” dividends
Public companies almost never pay dividends literally every week. Most pay quarterly, some monthly, and a very small number of income funds/ETFs may distribute more frequently. Screeners generally cannot filter by “weekly payout frequency” directly.
So, your colleague instead chose filters that:
- Emphasize reliable, consistent dividend payers
- With meaningful yield
- And sustainable payout policies
These are the kinds of stocks you’d typically use to build a steady income stream (e.g., by combining various pay schedules), even if no single stock pays weekly.
Screening Filters
Market Cap ≥ $2,000,000,000 (Large enough companies)
- Purpose: Focus on established, relatively stable companies.
- Rationale:
- Firms that pay regular, dependable dividends are more often mid- to large-cap businesses with strong, predictable cash flows.
- Smaller, more speculative companies are less likely to have long, uninterrupted dividend histories or predictable schedules.
- Since you’re asking about regular, frequent income (like “weekly”), the screener leans toward companies that are large and financially mature enough to sustain ongoing payments.
Beta: LowRisk or ModerateRisk
- Purpose: Filter for stocks with lower to moderate volatility.
- Rationale:
- Income investors seeking something as frequent as “weekly” payments generally prioritize capital stability along with income.
- Low or moderate beta indicates the stock tends to move less violently than the broad market, which is desirable if your main focus is steady income, not aggressive speculation.
- Combining lower risk with dividends fits the profile of a “dividend-as-income” investor rather than a trader.
5-Year Dividend CAGR ≥ 0.01% (Dividend growth over 5 years)
- Purpose: Ensure the company has at least maintained (or slightly grown) its dividend over the past 5 years.
- Rationale:
- A positive 5-year dividend compound annual growth rate (CAGR) signals that dividends are not just random or one-off, but part of an ongoing, shareholder-return policy.
- Regular growers/maintainers of dividends are more likely to keep paying on schedule, whatever their normal cadence (monthly/quarterly).
- This aligns with your desire for a reliable, recurring income pattern, even though the screener can’t enforce “weekly” directly.
Dividend Yield (TTM) ≥ 3%
- Purpose: Focus on stocks with a meaningful level of income today.
- Rationale:
- A yield of at least 3% is a common threshold for income-focused investors.
- Since you’re thinking in terms of “weekly” cash flow, the underlying idea is: you likely want noticeable cash distributions, not token dividends.
- This filter eliminates low-yielders where even frequent payments wouldn’t materially impact your cash flow.
Dividend Payout Ratio between 20% and 80%
- Purpose: Target companies whose dividends are neither too stingy nor unsustainably high.
- Rationale:
- Below ~20% payout may mean the company could pay more but chooses not to—less ideal when your goal is current income.
- Above ~80% can be a warning sign: the company is paying out most of its earnings, leaving little room for reinvestment or to maintain the dividend during downturns.
- The 20–80% window suggests a balance:
- Enough earnings are being paid out to support attractive income
- Enough are retained to keep the business healthy, making future dividends more secure and regular.
Why These Results Match Your Intent
Focus on reliable, ongoing income:
- Dividend yield ≥ 3% + positive 5-year dividend growth targets companies that have been paying and maintaining/increasing dividends over time.
Preference for stability:
- Market cap ≥ $2B and low/moderate beta bias the results toward stable, established dividend payers, which are the natural hunting ground for consistent income streams.
Sustainability of payments:
- The 20–80% payout ratio range helps ensure the dividends are supported by earnings, making it more likely that payment patterns (monthly/quarterly) continue smoothly.
Approximation of “weekly” income:
- While the screener can’t isolate literal weekly payers, these filters are tuned to find reliable dividend income stocks.
- In practice, investors often combine several such stocks and funds (with different pay dates and frequencies) to create a more frequent cash-flow pattern, even if no single holding pays weekly.
If you’d like, I can also explain how investors typically combine monthly and quarterly payers to approximate a steady, almost “weekly” dividend stream.
This list is generated based on data from one or more third party data providers. It is provided for informational purposes only by Intellectia.AI, and is not investment advice or a recommendation. Intellectia does not make any warranty or guarantee relating to the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of any third-party information, and the provision of this information does not constitute a recommendation.