Dividend-Paying Stocks May Lead a Trend

Dividend-Paying Stocks May Lead a Trend: "Dividends -- regular payments to shareholders out of a company's retained earnings -- have long provided a boost to total return, and now analysts say they could help drive the stock market higher. Since stocks struck their mid-April lows, the best performers have been in sectors with the fastest dividend-per-share growth in recent years, said Jeff Kleintop, chief investment strategist for PNC Financial Services Group in Philadelphia. Those with weaker dividend-per-share growth have lagged.
'Back in the old days, people bought stock for the dividends,' Kleintop said. 'It's only been in the last couple decades people focused more on stocks going up than what they paid in dividends. And now that may finally be reversing.'"