Why Investors Need to Understand “Total Yield”

I was once asked which was better – dividends or buybacks. My answer was dividends are better but both are great. And either are preferable to most big acquisitions in terms of what a company should do with its cash. bBut that’s really as far as I thought about.

Chris Brightman of Research Affiliates (Rob Arnott’s shop) is out with a piece of research showing why we need to stop thinking about just dividends and start focusing on what he calls Total Yield.

Here’s Shawn Tully at Fortune:

Brightman sees dividends as a key metric — but not the sole one. His latest brainstorm is a value-oriented methodology that screens not only for dividends but also for the impact of stock buybacks. In theory, when a company reduces its number of shares by, say, 2% while keeping profits and the price/earnings ratio steady, it should translate to a 2% increase in stock price. So Brightman adds the percentage of shares repurchased to the dividend yield percentage to calculate what he calls “total yield.” He argues that stocks with the highest total yields are far and away the best buys on the market.

And the below graphic gives us an illustration of the concept:

total yield chart

Head over for the whole thing, I believe this concept is a very important one for true investors to be mindful of given the low-return expectations for this market in 2013.

Source:

Thriving on the dividend and buyback diet (Fortune)

 

 

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

Wealthcast Media, an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here: https://www.ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers

Please see disclosures here.

What's been said:

Discussions found on the web
  1. Waring Pro MG1200 manuals commented on Jan 22

    … [Trackback]

    […] Information on that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2013/02/14/why-investors-need-to-understand-total-yield/ […]

  2. penerimaan cpns lulusan sma 2020 commented on Jan 31

    … [Trackback]

    […] Find More Information here to that Topic: thereformedbroker.com/2013/02/14/why-investors-need-to-understand-total-yield/ […]