Last week, we discussed a more aggressive industrial stock with the kind of substantial dividend yield usually associated with finance or utility stocks. (View the post: How an industrial stock sustains a strong dividend yield.) Today we look at another dividend stock you could hold in the more aggressive portion of your portfolio.

Investors generally look to aggressive stocks for …read more »

CONAGRA FOODS INC. $25 (New York symbol CAG; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 414.5 million; Market cap: $10.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.conagrafoods.com) makes a wide variety of packaged foods, including Chef Boyardee canned pasta, Hunt’s tomato sauce, Peter Pan peanut butter and Orville Redenbacher popcorn.

The company gets 65% of its sales from …read more »

Dividend reinvestment plans, or DRIPs, are plans some companies offer to allow shareholders to receive additional shares in lieu of cash dividends. DRIPs bypass brokers, so shareholders save on commissions.

DRIPs also eliminate the nuisance effect of receiving small cash dividend payments. Second, some DRIPs let you reinvest your dividends in additional shares at a 5% discount to current prices. Third, …read more »

H.J. HEINZ CO. $53 (New York symbol HNZ; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 321.0 million; Market cap: $17.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.heinz.com) makes a wide variety of processed foods, including condiments, sauces, soups, baked beans, pastas and baby food. Its flagship product, Heinz ketchup, accounts for about 60% of U.S. ketchup …read more »

Low interest rates, high unemployment and new banking regulations continue to weigh on the stock prices of Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan. However, both companies have brought in tighter lending policies. That lowers their risk and improves their long-term outlooks.

WELLS FARGO & CO. $26 (New York symbol WFC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 5.3 billion; Market cap: $137.8 …read more »

WAL-MART STORES INC. $57 (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Portfolio: Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 3.5 billion; Market cap: $199.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.walmart.com) had to temporarily shut down 13 of its stores in the Chinese city of Chongqing over charges that these outlets sold regular pork as higher-priced organic meat. The …read more »

Media companies continue to face a number of challenges, including the slowing economy, which is hurting advertising revenue, and the explosion of free information available on the Internet.

However, we feel high-quality information providers like these three will adapt and thrive. All three are market leaders, and they own some the industry’s best-known brands. What’s more, they are building strong Internet …read more »

ANDREW PELLER LTD. $8.99 (Toronto symbol ADW.A; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 14.3 million; Market cap: $128.6 million; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.andrewpeller.com) is Canada’s second-largest wine producer, after Vincor Canada.

In its 2012 first quarter, which ended June 30, 2011, Peller’s sales rose 7.7%, to $69.4 million from $64.5 million a year earlier. …read more »

We still think safety-conscious investors should focus on well-established stocks with strong businesses. The best of these stocks offer an attractive combination of low p/e ratios, steady or rising dividend yields and promising growth prospects. BCE has raised its dividend six times since December 2008. The stock now yields a high 5.3%. The shares are also inexpensive in relation to …read more »

PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $9.21 (Toronto symbol PGF; Shares outstanding: 303.2 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield : 9.1 %; www.pengrowth.com) produces oil and natural gas in western Canada and off the Nova Scotia coast. Its production is weighted 50% to oil and 50% to gas.

Even with higher oil prices, Pengrowth’s cash flow per share fell 23.3% …read more »