19 Dividend Contenders With The Highest Potential To Double Dividends

Dividend stocks can be the foundation of a great retirement portfolio. Not only do the payments put money in your pocket, which can help hedge against any dips in the stock market, but they're usually a sign of a financially sound company.

Dividends also give investors a painless opportunity to reinvest in a stock, thus compounding gains over time. However, not all income stocks live up to their full potential.

Using the payout ratio -- i.e., the percentage of profits a company returns to its shareholders as dividends -- we can get a good bead on whether a company has room to increase its dividend. Ideally, we like to see healthy payout ratios less than 30%.

Attached you will find those Dividend Contenders with the highest possibility to raise dividends by more than 100% for the years to come.

Each of the stocks fulfilled the following criteria:

- Dividend Growth over 10 consecutive years and less than 25 years
- Payout Ratio under 30%
- Debt to Equity under 0.5
- EPS Growth for the next five years expected at 5% yearly.

19 stocks fulfilled the above mentioned criteria of which 12 got a buy or better rating by analysts.

Here are the best yielding results in detail...

AmTrust Financial -- Yield: 2.36%

AmTrust Financial (NASDAQ:AFSI) employs 6,200 people, generates revenue of $4,683.50 million and has a net income of $485.14 million. The current market capitalization stands at $4.59 billion.

AmTrust Financial’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $1,100.98 million. The EBITDA margin is 23.51% (the operating margin is 11.45% and the net profit margin 10.36%).

Financials: The total debt represents 6.88% of AmTrust Financial assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 40.49%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 22.66% was realized by AmTrust Financial.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $2.80. Last fiscal year, AmTrust Financial paid $0.55 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 9.13, the P/S ratio is 0.95 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.84. The dividend yield amounts to 2.36%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of AmTrust Financial (AFSI)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of AmTrust Financial (AFSI)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of AmTrust Financial (AFSI)

Bank of Marin Bancorp -- Yield: 2.03%

Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) employs 259 people, generates revenue of $69.44 million and has a net income of $18.44 million. The current market capitalization stands at $302.78 million.

Bank of Marin Bancorp’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $31.64 million. The EBITDA margin is 41.42% (the operating margin is 37.88% and the net profit margin 24.14%).

Financials: The total debt represents 0.27% of Bank of Marin Bancorp assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 2.52%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 8.90% was realized by Bank of Marin Bancorp.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.23. Last fiscal year, Bank of Marin Bancorp paid $0.90 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 15.23, the P/S ratio is 3.94 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.39. The dividend yield amounts to 2.03%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Bank of Marin Bancorp (BMRC)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Bank of Marin Bancorp (BMRC)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Bank of Marin Bancorp (BMRC)

Robert Half International -- Yield: 1.97%

Robert Half International (NYSE:RHI) employs 16,100 people, generates revenue of $5,094.93 million and has a net income of $357.80 million. The current market capitalization stands at $5.25 billion.

Robert Half International’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $633.94 million. The EBITDA margin is 12.44% (the operating margin is 11.39% and the net profit margin 7.02%).

Financials: The total debt represents 0.07% of Robert Half International assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 0.12%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 36.07% was realized by Robert Half International.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $2.69. Last fiscal year, Robert Half International paid $0.80 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 14.52, the P/S ratio is 1.15 and the P/B ratio is finally 5.83. The dividend yield amounts to 1.97%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Robert Half International (RHI)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Robert Half International (RHI)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Robert Half International (RHI)

American Financial Group -- Yield: 1.61%

American Financial Group (NYSE:AFG) employs 500 people, generates revenue of $6,270.00 million and has a net income of $370.00 million. The current market capitalization stands at $6.07 billion.

American Financial Group’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $1,075.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 17.15% (the operating margin is 10.19% and the net profit margin 5.90%).

Financials: The total debt represents 2.05% of American Financial Group assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 22.21%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 7.43% was realized by American Financial Group.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $3.94. Last fiscal year, American Financial Group paid $1.03 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 17.64, the P/S ratio is 0.96 and the P/B ratio is finally 1.33. The dividend yield amounts to 1.61%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of American Financial Group (AFG)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of American Financial Group (AFG)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of American Financial Group (AFG)

Expeditors International -- Yield: 1.45%

Expeditors International (NASDAQ:EXPD) employs 15,397 people, generates revenue of $6,616.63 million and has a net income of $459.50 million. The current market capitalization stands at $9.33 billion.

Expeditors International’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $767.50 million. The EBITDA margin is 11.60% (the operating margin is 10.90% and the net profit margin 6.94%).

Financials: The total debt represents 0.00% of Expeditors International assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 0.00%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 25.68% was realized by Expeditors International.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $2.40. Last fiscal year, Expeditors International paid $0.72 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 20.94, the P/S ratio is 1.37 and the P/B ratio is finally 5.34. The dividend yield amounts to 1.45%.

Stock Charts:

Long-Term Stock Price Chart of Expeditors International (EXPD)

Long-Term Dividend Payment History of Expeditors International (EXPD)

Long-Term Dividend Yield History of Expeditors International (EXPD)

Stryker Corporation -- Yield: 1.39%

Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) employs 27,000 people, generates revenue of $9,946.00 million and has a net income of $1,439.00 million. The current market capitalization stands at $41.16 billion.

Stryker Corporation’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $2,654.00 million. The EBITDA margin is 26.68% (the operating margin is 18.71% and the net profit margin 14.47%).

Financials: The total debt represents 24.64% of Stryker Corporation assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 46.97%. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 16.82% was realized by Stryker Corporation.

Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $4.27. Last fiscal year, Stryker Corporation paid $1.42 in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 25.77, the P/S ratio is 4.12 and the P/B ratio is finally 4.80. The dividend yield amounts to 1.39%.

Stock Charts: