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Bank on This Dividend
by David Peltier

WesBanco (WSBC) boosted its quarterly dividend to 28 cents a share Feb. 28. Shareholders at the close of trading March 11 qualified for the upcoming April 1 payment. The West Virginia-based bank has increased its payout 23 consecutive years and now yields 4.4%. There aren't many dividend yields this high in the banking industry that are safe anymore, but WesBanco is on track to cover its payment 1.7 times with expected 2008 earnings of $1.90 a share.

This is below my usual threshold of two times earnings coverage to deem a dividend secure. However, like model portfolio stock U.S. Bancorp (USB), WesBanco's management has been very conservative with its lending practices and likely won't experience massive asset writedowns that are plaguing the rest of the sector. This contrasts with the 9.4% yield that Wachovia (WB) currently offers. I believe Wachovia's 64-cent quarterly dividend will not be sustainable, in part because it's on track to only cover the payout 1.2 times with expected full-year earnings of $3.11 a share.

I'm also encouraged by the fact that two insiders bought shares of WesBanco in the past month, on the open market. With that in mind, I believe the stock is attractive at Thursday's closing price of $25.26, if readers are looking for a safer dividend in the bank sector.

Primedia (PRM) said March 5 that it will begin paying a quarterly dividend of 7 cents a share. Investors at the close of trading March 12 qualified for the upcoming March 31 payment. The magazine publisher's 4.2% yield is 190 basis points ahead of what the average S&P 500 company offers.

But I believe that income-oriented investors should avoid Primedia shares, which closed Thursday at $6.65. The new payout follows a special dividend that the company paid out last September. Since that last payment was announced Aug. 21, the stock is down more than 52% -- which includes the benefit of the dividend.

Primedia's new quarterly payout likely won't attract new investors either, because it appears that the media publisher's finances aren't strong enough to sustain it. For one thing, the company will only be able to cover the dividend 1.4 times with expected 2008 earnings of 39 cents a share.

Primedia posted mixed fourth-quarter results March 5. The company earned 10 cents a share, which was a penny ahead of expectations. On the other hand, revenue grew just 3% year over year, falling $3.3 million short of the consensus analyst estimate. This shortfall was attributed to weakness in the company's publications related to the housing market.

The company went through a massive restructuring last August when it sold more than $1 billion worth of assets and paid down a great deal of its debt, along with offering the special dividend. However, the company still had negative shareholders' equity on its latest balance sheet.


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*Total average return from inception date of 1/24/03 through 2/5/09. Your results may differ for many reasons, including, without limitation: (i) performance results for the model portfolio do not reflect trading commissions that subscribers would incur, (ii) performance results for the model portfolio reflect the reinvestment of dividends earned but not interest earned on cash, and (iii) the prices of stocks in the model portfolio at the point in time subscribers begin subscribing to TheStreet.com Dividend Stock Advisor may be higher than such prices at the time such stocks are chosen for inclusion in the model portfolio. Past results obtained in the model portfolio are not necessarily indicative of future performance.

**Standard & Poor's, from a December 27, 2007 release: Standard & Poor's, the world's leading index provider, announced today that it is raising the indicated dividend rate on the S&P 500 from $26.55 to $28.75, and that cash dividends set another record paying out $27.73 per share in 2007 versus $24.88 in 2006. The 11.5% increase in dividend payments translates into a $246.6 billion aggregate payment for the S&P 500 companies in 2007 compared to $224.8 billion in 2006.

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TheStreet.com Dividend Stock Advisor is written by David Peltier, a financial analyst at TheStreet.com, who maintains TheStreet.com Dividend Stock Advisor model portfolio. TheStreet.com is a publisher.

TheStreet.com Dividend Stock Advisor and model portfolio contain the author's own opinions and none of the information contained therein constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Peltier or TheStreet.com that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. You should not rely solely upon TheStreet.com Dividend Stock Advisor for purposes of transacting securities or other investments, and you are encouraged to conduct your own research and due diligence before you make any investment. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance.

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