20 Dividend Challengers With Very Low Debt

Dividend Challengers With Low Debt To Equity Ratios Researched By Dividend Yield - Stock, Capital, Investment. Stocks with a history of rising dividends of more than 5 years but less than 9 years in a row are named Dividend Challengers. 189 companies with such a dividend growth performance are available at the markets. But past dividend growth does not guarantee a future dividend hike if earnings are down. A major ratio to judge the ability of paying dividends from capital assets is the debt to equity ratio.

I screened all Dividend Challengers by companies with very low debt to equity ratios (ratio below 0.1). Those stocks are nearly free of debt and have a generous cushion of future dividend hikes. Below the results are some of stocks with a very low market capitalization which are not to recommend in a deeper analysis. 20 stocks with a market capitalization of more than USD 300 million remained. Twelve of them have a current buy or better rating.

Here are my favorite stocks:

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Guess? (NYSE:GES) has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion. The company employs 14,300 people, generates revenues of $2,688.05 million and has a net income of $270.65 million. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $476.52 million. Because of these figures, the EBITDA margin is 17.73 percent (operating margin 14.78 percent and the net profit margin finally 10.07 percent). 


Financial Analysis: The total debt representing 0.66 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 1.04 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 23.62 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $2.87. Last fiscal year, the company paid $0.80 in form of dividends to shareholders. GES raised dividends for 6 consecutive years.


Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 9.23, P/S ratio 0.99 and P/B ratio 2.25. Dividend Yield: 2.71 percent. The beta ratio is 1.65.

Long-Term Stock History Chart Of Guess?, Inc. (Click to enlarge)

Long-Term Dividends History of Guess?, Inc. (GES) (Click to enlarge)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Guess?, Inc. (NYSE: GES) (Click to enlarge)

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) has a market capitalization of $41.04 billion. The company employs 244,000 people, generates revenues of $27,352.91 million and has a net income of $2,553.24 million. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $3,983.71 million. Because of these figures, the EBITDA margin is 14.56 percent (operating margin 12.69 percent and the net profit margin finally 9.33 percent). 


Financial Analysis: The total debt representing 0.03 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 0.11 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 67.84 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.77. Last fiscal year, the company paid $0.90 in form of dividends to shareholders. ACN raised dividends for 6 consecutive years.


Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 15.74, P/S ratio 1.65 and P/B ratio 11.44. Dividend Yield: 2.10 percent. The beta ratio is 0.81.

Long-Term Stock History Chart Of Accenture Plc (Click to enlarge)

Long-Term Dividends History of Accenture Plc (ACN) (Click to enlarge)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Accenture Plc (NYSE: ACN) (Click to enlarge)

DeVry (NYSE:DV) has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion. The company employs 10,262 people, generates revenues of $2,182.37 million and has a net income of $330.83 million. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $558.75 million. Because of these figures, the EBITDA margin is 25.60 percent (operating margin 22.64 percent and the net profit margin finally 15.16 percent). 


Financial Analysis: The total debt representing 0.00 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 0.00 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 25.72 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.03. Last fiscal year, the company paid $0.24 in form of dividends to shareholders. DV raised dividends for 6 consecutive years.


Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 10.23, P/S ratio 0.95 and P/B ratio 1.55. Dividend Yield: 0.95 percent. The beta ratio is 0.54.

Long-Term Stock History Chart Of DeVry Inc. (Click to enlarge)

Long-Term Dividends History of DeVry Inc. (DV) (Click to enlarge)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV) (Click to enlarge)

Take a closer look at the full table of Dividend Challengers with lowest debt. The average price to earnings ratio (P/E ratio) amounts to 18.08. The dividend yield has a value of 1.73 percent. Price to book ratio is 4.39 and price to sales ratio 2.85. The operating margin amounts to 21.43 percent.

Here is the full table with some fundamentals (TTM):

20 Dividend Challengers With Very Low Debt (Click to enlarge)

Related stock ticker symbols:

CHL, KDN, GES, DAKT, NHC, WSM, CAN, NRCI, HWKN, COLM, MSM, EPHC, FINL, DV, JJSF, ATRI, LNN, RBN, TPL, GOLD

Selected Articles:

· 12 Dividend Challengers With Highest Recent Growth

· Best Recommended High Yield Dividend Challengers

· 14 Dividend Challengers For Less Than Book Value

· 12 Dividend Challengers With Low PEG Ratios

* I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I receive no compensation to write about any specific stock, sector or theme.