One ratio that gets a lot of attention (and rightfully so) from investors is a stock's payout ratio. It tells them how much of a company's earnings are paid out in the form of dividends. Generally, the higher the ratio is, the more unsustainable the dividend is.

This isn't always the case, however. A company may be coming off a single bad earnings report or it may have many noncash items weighing down its bottom line in a particular quarter that pushes the payout ratio abnormally high. Still, the payout ratio is a good metric to focus on when evaluating dividend stocks.

Three stocks that yield more than the S 500 average of 1.4% but still have low payout ratios are CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM). Let's take a closer look at these dividend stocks and why they might be good additions to a portfolio.

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Source Fool.com