9 Highly Profitable High Volume S&P 500 Dividend Stocks

Looking for strong dividend stocks capturing the attention of the investing community? For ideas on how to start your own dividend stock search, we ran a screen.

We began by screening the S&P 500 for stocks paying dividend yields above 1%. We then screened for high volume trading activity. Specifically, the current volume to 3 month average volume ratio is above 1.5. High volume indicates many investors are paying close attention to these names.

But that’s not good enough for us, though. We want to ensure that the company has strong profitability. To analyze profitability, we compared the companies’ gross, operating, and profit margins with their industry averages to find those more profitable than their peers.

TTM Gross margin: This metric that tells us the percentage of a company’s revenue is left after paying all production expenses. Costs include overhead, payroll and taxation. ((revenues – cost of goods sold) / Revenue ) *100 = Gross margin %

TTM Operating margin: This tells us the percentage remaining after all operating expenses are paid. Operating expenses include: supplies, repairs, research and development, and depreciation. (Operating Income / Net Operating Revenue) *100 = Operating Margin %

TTM Pretax margin: A company’s earnings before taxes. This incorporates all of the expenses associated with business excluding taxes. It can help to determine the overall operating efficiency of the firm. The higher the pretax margin, the more profitable the company. (Net profit before taxes / net sales) *100 = Pretax Margin

Business Section: Investing Ideas

We were left with 9 names.

As a recap, these names are S&P 500 stocks, have higher than average trading volume, and stronger profit margins than their industry peers.

Do you think these names pay reliable dividends? Use the list below as a starting point for your own analysis. List sorted by dividend yield.

Interactive Chart: Use the Compar-O-Matic to compare market caps for the stocks mentioned below:

1. Dominion Resources, Inc. (DD, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Engages in producing and transporting energy in the United States. Market cap at $30.23B, most recent closing price at $52.89. Current yield at 4%. Relative volume ratio at 1.21. TTM gross margin at 30.94% vs. industry average at 24.4%. TTM operating margin at 22.58% vs. industry average at 16.38%. TTM pretax margin at 15.01% vs. industry average at 9.84%.

2. Intel Corporation (INTC, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of integrated circuits for computing and communications industries worldwide. Market cap at $113.32B, most recent closing price at $22.65. Current yield at 3.9%. Relative volume ratio at 1.14. TTM gross margin at 75.6% vs. industry average at 61.75%. TTM operating margin at 31.22% vs. industry average at 22.64%. TTM pretax margin at 31.59% vs. industry average at 21.11%.

3. NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy in the United States and Canada. Market cap at $29.17B, most recent closing price at $69.95. Current yield at 3.42%. Relative volume ratio at 1.47. TTM gross margin at 35.27% vs. industry average at 29.01%. TTM operating margin at 25.57% vs. industry average at 18.93%. TTM pretax margin at 19.34% vs. industry average at 13.15%.

4. Public Storage (PSA, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT). Market cap at $23.91B, most recent closing price at $139.35. Current yield at 3.17%. Relative volume ratio at 1.06. TTM gross margin at 48.17% vs. industry average at 42.69%. TTM operating margin at 48.17% vs. industry average at 40.46%. TTM pretax margin at 44.25% vs. industry average at 22.6%.

5. Praxair Inc. (PX, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Engages in the production, sale, and distribution of industrial gases primarily in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Market cap at $30.96B, most recent closing price at $103.85. Current yield at 2.11%. Relative volume ratio at 1.1. TTM gross margin at 42.7% vs. industry average at 37.37%. TTM operating margin at 21.85% vs. industry average at 16.48%. TTM pretax margin at 21.21% vs. industry average at 15.36%.

6. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (MHP, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Provides various information services for financial, educational, and business information markets worldwide. Market cap at $15.18B, most recent closing price at $54.18. Current yield at 1.86%. Relative volume ratio at 1.08. TTM gross margin at 61.82% vs. industry average at 41.56%. TTM operating margin at 25.15% vs. industry average at 19.03%. TTM pretax margin at 21.53% vs. industry average at 13.46%.

7. Monsanto Co. (MON, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Provides agricultural products for farmers in the United States and internationally. Market cap at $47.69B, most recent closing price at $89.49. Current yield at 1.64%. Relative volume ratio at 1.1. TTM gross margin at 56.82% vs. industry average at 37.37%. TTM operating margin at 24.36% vs. industry average at 16.48%. TTM pretax margin at 23.32% vs. industry average at 15.36%.

8. Altera Corp. (ALTR, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Designs, manufactures, and markets programmable logic devices (plds); structured application-specific integrated circuit devices; predefined design building blocks or intellectual-property cores; and associated development tools. Market cap at $11.12B, most recent closing price at $34.77. Current yield at 1.15%. Relative volume ratio at 1.3. TTM gross margin at 71.22% vs. industry average at 61.75%. TTM operating margin at 35.1% vs. industry average at 22.64%. TTM pretax margin at 35.1% vs. industry average at 21.11%.

9. Discover Financial Services (DFS, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Operates as a credit card issuer and electronic payment services company primarily in the United States. Market cap at $19.06B, most recent closing price at $37.02. Current yield at 1.01%. Relative volume ratio at 2.31. TTM gross margin at 49.8% vs. industry average at 33.74%. TTM operating margin at 48.75% vs. industry average at 31.06%. TTM pretax margin at 43.% vs. industry average at 24.49%.