[Updated August 3, 2017]
Dividend investing has earned a spot in countless portfolios as prudent investors of all walks embrace the value of a reliable income stream. Every so often dividend investors are left frustrated for a good reason – the stock they want to own doesn’t pay a distribution. At the end of the day, dividends are great but not everyone pays them [see our Best Dividend Stocks List].
As such, below we examine the 80 securities in the coveted S&P 500 Index that currently do not pay out a dividend to shareholders, but may potentially start to based on a combination of several important factors.
S&P 500 Companies that Can Afford to Start Paying a Dividend
Nobody has a crystal ball when it comes to predicting when a firm might initiate its dividend policy. With that being said, there are some signposts that could hint as to which companies might be best positioned to start paying out a distribution [see The Ten Commandments of Dividend Investing].
Starting with the table below, we narrowed down the list of S&P 500 stocks that don’t pay a dividend, but could theoretically afford one, based on three simple, but insightful, valuation metrics:
- The company’s average sales growth over the past five years must exceed 10%; this criteria eliminates very young companies as well as firms that may be struggling to capture a meaningful market-share in their respective lines of business.
- The company’s debt-to-equity ratio must not exceed one; this criteria narrows down the list to include only those firms that are in sound financial positions and are not burdened by interest payments on their debt holdings.
- The company’s profit margin must exceed 20%; this criteria ensures that the firm can generate a steady cash flow stream from operations that would be used to pay out a distribution.
Based on the criteria outlined above, the S&P 500 companies that could potentially afford to start paying a dividend are:
- Biogen Inc. (BIIB)
- Facebook Inc. (FB)
- Alphabet Class C (GOOG)
- Alphabet Class A (GOOGL)
- Intuitive Surg Inc. (ISRG)
- Monster Beverage Cp (MNST)
- Verisign Inc. (VRSN)
- Waters Corp. (WAT)
Use the Dividend Screener to find high-quality dividend stocks based upon 16 parameters. You can even screen stocks with DARS ratings above a certain threshold.
List of All S&P 500 Companies with No Dividend
| Ticker | Company | Market Cap (Millions) | 5-Year Sales Growth | Debt/Equity | Profit Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AABA | Altaba Inc. | $52,438,456 | 3.72% | 0.04 | -4.14% |
| ADBE | Adobe Systems Inc. | $71,934,328 | 38.85% | 0.26 | 19.96% |
| ADSK | Autodesk Inc. | $23,747,022 | -8.33% | 1.49 | -28.66% |
| AKAM | Akamai Technologies | $8,868,231 | 101.98% | 0.20 | 13.51% |
| ALXN | Alexion Pharm Inc. | $28,310,278 | 293.65% | 0.36 | 12.94% |
| AMD | Adv Micro Devices | $13,390,934 | -34.96% | 3.45 | -11.63% |
| AMZN | Amazon.Com Inc. | $479,767,648 | 182.85% | 0.40 | 1.74% |
| AN | Autonation Inc. | $4,001,795 | 56.22% | 0.70 | 1.99% |
| AZO | Autozone | $16,116,689 | 31.74% | -2.75 | 11.67% |
| BIIB | Biogen Inc. | $59,881,960 | 126.77% | 0.54 | 32.34% |
| BRK.B | Berkshire Hath Hld B | $412,510,016 | 55.62% | 0.00 | 10.77% |
| BSX | Boston Scientific Corp. | $38,480,140 | 10.02% | 0.80 | 4.14% |
| CBG | CBRE Group Inc. | $11,943,704 | 121.35% | 0.83 | 4.38% |
| CELG | Celgene Corp. | $104,871,936 | 131.91% | 2.09 | 17.80% |
| CERN | Cerner Corp. | $22,574,976 | 117.71% | 0.14 | 13.27% |
| CHK | Chesapeake Energy Corp. | $4,149,880 | -32.34% | -3.34 | -55.91% |
| CHTR | Charter Communicatio | $89,186,976 | 302.60% | 1.19 | 12.14% |
| CMG | Chipotle Mexican Grill | $11,901,925 | 72.03% | 0.00 | 0.59% |
| CNC | Centene Corp. | $14,497,362 | 660.35% | 0.79 | 1.38% |
| CRM | Salesforce.Com Inc. | $63,038,956 | 270.26% | 0.27 | 2.14% |
| CTXS | Citrix Systems Inc. | $12,305,122 | 54.93% | 0.00 | 15.68% |
| CXO | Concho Resources Inc. | $17,287,962 | -6.03% | 0.36 | -89.45% |
| DISCA | Discovery Comm A | $9,918,061 | 53.41% | 1.52 | 18.38% |
| DISCK | Discovery Comm Inc. | $9,637,324 | 53.41% | 1.52 | 18.38% |
| DISH | Dish Network Corp. | $29,766,990 | 7.45% | 3.35 | 9.61% |
| DLTR | Dollar Tree Inc. | $15,763,554 | 212.48% | 1.14 | 4.33% |
| DVA | Davita Healthcare Partners Inc. | $12,627,594 | 111.18% | 1.84 | 5.97% |
| EA | Electronic Arts Inc. | $34,323,132 | 16.94% | 0.24 | 19.96% |
| EBAY | Ebay Inc. | $38,498,832 | -22.94% | 0.71 | 80.92% |
| ESRX | Express Scripts | $38,710,028 | 117.41% | 0.91 | 3.39% |
| ETFC | E*Trade Finl Corp. | $9,966,363 | -13.75% | 0.24 | 27.25% |
| EVHC | Envision Healthcare Holdings | $11,360,959 | 369.71% | 0.78 | -0.50% |
| EW | Edwards Lifesciences Corp. | $25,207,470 | 76.56% | 0.31 | 19.22% |
| FB | Facebook Inc. | $449,420,768 | 644.76% | 0.00 | 36.97% |
| FCX | Freeport-Mcmoran Inc. | $17,014,486 | -28.98% | 1.60 | -29.10% |
| FFIV | F5 Networks Inc. | $8,410,353 | 73.21% | 0.00 | 18.34% |
| FISV | Fiserv Inc. | $26,505,026 | 26.93% | 1.76 | 16.89% |
| FTI | Technipfmc Plc | $12,457,953 | -10.92% | 0.35 | 0.85% |
| GOOG | Alphabet Class C | $668,294,528 | 138.15% | 0.03 | 21.58% |
| GOOGL | Alphabet Class A | $682,482,752 | 138.15% | 0.03 | 21.58% |
| HCA | Hca Holdings Inc. | $31,641,454 | 39.78% | -5.53 | 6.97% |
| HOLX | Hologic Inc. | $12,916,862 | 58.31% | 1.42 | 11.68% |
| HSIC | Henry Schein Inc. | $14,610,206 | 35.65% | 0.26 | 4.38% |
| IDXX | Idexx Laboratories | $14,746,883 | 45.68% | -5.48 | 12.51% |
| ILMN | Illumina Inc. | $27,050,880 | 127.22% | 0.46 | 19.29% |
| INCY | Incyte Corporation | $27,906,056 | 1070.57% | 1.55 | 9.43% |
| ISRG | Intuitive Surg Inc. | $34,958,948 | 53.90% | 0.00 | 27.21% |
| IT | Gartner Inc. | $11,211,512 | 66.45% | 10.91 | 7.92% |
| KMX | Carmax Inc. | $11,512,001 | 58.69% | 3.80 | 3.95% |
| KORS | Michael Kors Holdings Ltd | $5,506,679 | 245.07% | 0.00 | 12.30% |
| LH | Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings | $15,510,726 | 73.97% | 0.96 | 7.59% |
| LKQ | LKQ Corp. | $9,948,519 | 162.52% | 0.95 | 5.41% |
| LVLT | Level 3 Communications | $21,705,084 | 88.60% | 1.00 | 8.28% |
| MHK | Mohawk Industries | $18,319,880 | 58.79% | 0.20 | 10.38% |
| MNK | Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Share | $4,601,892 | -58.95% | 1.18 | -18.46% |
| MNST | Monster Beverage Cp | $29,520,442 | 79.04% | 0.00 | 23.37% |
| MTD | Mettler-Toledo International | $15,482,705 | 8.61% | 2.01 | 15.32% |
| MU | Micron Technology | $35,103,216 | 41.09% | 0.71 | -2.23% |
| MYL | Mylan Nv Ord Shs | $20,919,298 | 80.70% | 1.37 | 4.33% |
| NFLX | Netflix Inc. | $68,106,624 | 175.56% | 1.26 | 2.11% |
| NFX | Newfield Exploration Company | $5,485,968 | -40.43% | 2.59 | -83.56% |
| ORLY | O'Reilly Automotive | $20,027,280 | 48.44% | 1.16 | 12.08% |
| PCLN | Priceline Group | $92,102,120 | 146.65% | 0.63 | 19.87% |
| PWR | Quanta Services | $4,683,239 | 65.48% | 0.11 | 2.59% |
| PYPL | Paypal Holdings | $65,257,396 | NA | 0.00 | 12.92% |
| QRVO | Qorvo Inc. | $8,889,374 | NA | 0.20 | -0.55% |
| REGN | Regeneron Pharmaceutical | $54,987,008 | 990.22% | 0.08 | 18.42% |
| RHT | Red Hat Inc. | $17,725,590 | 112.85% | 0.60 | 10.52% |
| RIG | Transocean Inc. | $3,163,595 | -54.48% | 0.49 | 18.70% |
| SNPS | Synopsys Inc. | $11,194,898 | 57.75% | 0.00 | 11.01% |
| SRCL | Stericycle Inc. | $6,555,557 | 112.54% | 1.02 | 5.79% |
| TDC | Teradata Corp. | $3,895,287 | -1.69% | 0.55 | 5.38% |
| TDG | Transdigm Group Inc. | $13,947,602 | 162.96% | -15.26 | 18.49% |
| TRIP | Tripadvisor Inc. | $5,219,861 | 132.32% | 0.06 | 8.11% |
| UA | Under Armour Inc Class C Comm | $4,327,716 | 227.66% | 0.39 | 5.33% |
| UAA | Under Armour | $9,296,836 | 227.66% | 0.39 | 5.33% |
| UAL | United Continental Holdings | $23,778,792 | -1.49% | 1.24 | 6.19% |
| ULTA | Ulta Salon Cosmetic | $17,660,560 | 173.33% | 0.00 | 8.44% |
| URI | United Rentals | $8,855,631 | 120.68% | 4.36 | 9.82% |
| VAR | Varian Medical Systems | $9,654,357 | 23.92% | 0.16 | 12.50% |
| VRSK | Verisk Analytics Inc. | $13,617,402 | 49.81% | 1.71 | 29.63% |
| VRSN | Verisign Inc. | $9,568,886 | 47.95% | -1.03 | 38.58% |
| VRTX | Vertex Pharmaceutic | $33,250,846 | 20.67% | 0.03 | -6.58% |
| WAT | Waters Corp. | $14,845,019 | 17.08% | 0.74 | 24.06% |
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