For Investors Only: CVX and COP -- Room To Double Their Dividend

Two important stories / links here. First Motley Fool at the top; CNBC/Fast Money at the bottom.

Link here to Motley Fool.

We have identified ten stocks that have high dividend yields – those greater than 3% – that could afford to pay double their current dividend, i.e. those having less than a 40% payout ratio for the most recent quarter. 

Additionally, each of these companies also generate at least $4 of cash flow per share.  

The first companies on this list, Chevron Corporation and ConocoPhillips, are in the profitable oil and gas sector. Chevron pays a dividend yield of 3.1% and Conoco 4.6%, and both companies only pay about 30% of their earnings out as dividends. 

ConocoPhillips trades below its peers on a P/E basis at 6.7x, while Chevron trades at 8.7x, with the likes of Exxon and BP trading at 9.5x and 8.0x, respectively. 

While ConocoPhillips trades at a richer forward P/E at 10, versus Chevron of 9x, Conoco recently spun off its downstream operations, which may prove to accelerate the company over the next couple years.

Again, for investors only. Disclaimer: this is not an investment site; do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read at this blog. Another disclaimer: I have been invested in many of the companies mentioned at the link. I don't plan to purchase any new shares in the next year, except for automatic dividend reinvestment in some companies mentioned.

The Motley Fool article was posted September 23, 2012. I posted the possibility of CVX increasing its dividend on September 21, 2012.

CNBC/Fast Money suggests investors could see significant dividend payouts before the end of the year because of the threat of taxes going up significantly after the first of the year.