Yahoo Finance 4 Unlikely Stocks Cutting You a Dividend Check
Last week was rough for Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH) investors. The online dating giant behind Tinder, PlentyOfFish, OkCupid, and its namesake Match.com saw its shares tumble 18% on the week, after failing to impress investors with its third-quarter report. Revenue rose a hearty 29% as a 23% surge in subscribers and a 6% uptick in average revenue per user combined to deliver better-than-expected top-line growth. Match Group's bottom line grew even faster, also topping expectations.
Guidance for the current quarter, however, was shy of where the Wall Street pros were perched. Match Group tried to ease the sting by offering shareholders a one-time dividend of $2 a share, but that didn't help. One analyst even called out the payout, arguing that Match Group would be better off using that money to acquire properties that can accelerate growth in the future.
The special dividend does seem odd, but Match Group is not alone. Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRI), MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI), and World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) are some other companies with recurring distributions. Let's size them up.
Image source: Match Group.
Sirius XM
The satellite-radio monopoly turned heads when it initiated a quarterly distribution policy two years ago. The original $0.01-per-share rate has undergone back-to-back 10% increases, and last month's increase lifts the quarterly rate to $0.0121 per share.
The 0.8% yield is paltry, but that's not the point. Sirius XM is a money machine. It expects to generate $1.5 billion in free cash flow this year, and while it's done a great job of buying back shares, it's not a bad idea to give income investors something to chew on here. Sirius XM stock is moving higher for the 10th year in a row, another surprising streak by the ascending media giant.
MercadoLibre
Another small yet surprising quarterly disbursement comes from Latin America's leading online marketplace operator. MercadoLibre has been sending out $0.15-per-share checks every three months for a couple of years now.
Revenue growth has slowed at MercadoLibre, at least in the eyes of stateside investors. Net revenue for the third quarter rose 16.5%, though on a foreign exchange-neutral basis it would've been better than a 58% advance. The stock's astronomical rise has pushed the yield down to 0.2%, but a check is still a check.
World Wrestling Entertainment
When you think of wrestling, the first things that come to mind are probably over-the-top characters, violent body slams, and muscled heroes turning heel. You probably aren't thinking of dividend checks, but that's exactly what the media force behind the WWE has been doing for years. It has stuck with a quarterly rate of $0.12 a share since 2011.
World Wrestling Entertainment has been one of this year's hottest stocks, up 130% so far in 2018. It's coming off a rough quarter, as lower ticket sales at its live events nearly offset the gains on the media side. The stock's year-to-date rise has pushed the yield down to 0.7%, but it's still welcome pocket change from an unlikely place.
More From The Motley Fool
Rick Munarriz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends MercadoLibre. The Motley Fool recommends Match Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
