Dividends have accounted for the lion's share of returns stock investors have received during the last several decades. Going back to 1960, a whopping 85% of the total returns of the S 500 can be attributed to reinvested dividends and the power of compounding.

Not all dividend payers are cut from the same cloth, however. A recent report by Hartford Funds showed that companies with payout ratios under 75% tend to perform better than dividend-paying peers with higher ratios.

Image source: Getty Images.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com