In his Stocks that Pay You advisory, Neil George searches for intriguing income-oriented ideas. Here, he reviews a trio of yield plays related to the airline, utilty and energy sectors.
"One of my favorite individual mini-bonds is from my favorite air transporter AMR Corporation; the company's latest quarterly report showed a slowing of losses, reduced costs and more importantly a major series of capital infusions.
"This continues to bring more and more credibility to the balance sheet and proves out what I've been writing about this company for years now: It has the ability and the wherewithal to pay its investors.
"And while there is value in the common stock, the real value is in the AMR minibonds (NYSE: AAR), which have a stated dividend rate of 7.875%. Currently trading around 18 dollars, this means a yield right now of over 11.2 % paid quarter after quarter.
"Next, one of the very few utility plays I recommend is Southern Company (NYSE: SO). The issue might seem tame with its dividend rate running at 5.2%.
"However, that dividend has continually risen over the past five years by an annual average of over 4%, year after year.
"This is the steadiest of steady companies in the US that keeps generating power and paying its stockholders. No wonder then, that during the same past ten years in which the S&P 500 lost ground, Southern generated gains of over 234.9%.
"Last up is a favored resource company that doesn't need to rely on stratospheric oil and gas prices to make money. Linn Energy (NASDAQ: LINE) is based right here in the US down in Houston,.
"Linn is set up to produce petrol at far below market prices. Its low cost fields keep revenues pumping with triple-digit gains -- and a strategy of paying out a steady cut for shareholders.
"Linn keeps producing for investors. Returns this past year are running at more than 73% -- 15 times better than the biggest oil company in the S&P 500. And that's not a recent fluke.
"Dating from January of 2006, Linn's average annual return is twice that of the biggest US oil company, and more than 3 times that of the average the petrol tracked inside the S&P 500.
"And Linn keeps paying its investors with a dividend running currently at over 10.2%, which has been rising at an average annual rate of more than 29% since the company went public."
