The 13 Best Dividend Paying Services Stocks

 | Sep 12, 2012 05:03AM ET

Stocks from the services sector are important for a consumer based economy such as that of the United States. In the capital markets there are 899 stocks available with a relationship to service. The whole market capitalization amounts to USD 50.88 trillion. The average dividend yield within this sector is 1.84 percent and the P/E ratio is 20.14.

In order to find the best dividend paying large cap growth stocks within this sector, I screened all companies with a positive dividend yield, great earnings per share growth of more than 10 percent and an operating margin over 15 percent. To get the best results in terms of low debt and high cash, the debt to equity ratio should be under 0.5. Finally, the market capitalization should be above USD 2 billion. Thirteen services stocks remained of which eleven are currently recommended to buy.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) has a market capitalization of $12.37 billion. The company employs 12,400 people, generates revenue of $2,229.80 million and has a net income of $548.00 million. The firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $951.70 million. The EBITDA margin is 42.68 percent (operating margin 38.29 percent and net profit margin 24.58 percent).

Financial Analysis: The total debt represents 0.00 percent of the company’s assets and the total debt in relation to the equity amounts to 0.00 percent. Due to the financial situation, a return on equity of 35.35 percent was realized. Twelve trailing months earnings per share reached a value of $1.51. Last fiscal year, the company paid $1.27 in form of dividends to shareholders. The earnings per share are expected to grow by 10.40 percent for the next five years.

Market Valuation: Here are the price ratios of the company: The P/E ratio is 22.60, P/S ratio 5.55 and P/B ratio 7.71. Dividend Yield: 3.75 percent. The beta ratio is 0.87.