Looking for dividend stocks to buy in the US stock market in September 2020 but not sure where to start? I have been screening for dividend stocks listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange but have not looked at overseas stock exchanges. One of my readers suggested that I should look outside of the local stock market such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq.

Does the same criteria that I use to screen for Singapore dividend stocks apply to overseas stock market as well? I decided to run my dividend stock screener on the US stock exchange to see what results I get. Below are the conditions I set in the stock screener to identify dividend stocks.

• Current Yield (%) >= 5 and <= 10
• Price / Earnings <=20
• Price / Book <= 3
• Market Capitalization >= 1B

Below are the top dividend yielding stocks listed on NYSE or Nasdaq as of 10th September 2020 for your reference.

Name	Current Yield %	P/E	P/B	Market Cap
Cedar Fair, L.P	9.89	-10.13	-5.2	1.6B
Office Properties Income Trust	9.57	15.02	0.67	1.1B
CenturyLink, Inc	9.48	7.38	0.86	11.6B
Janus Henderson Group plc	9.36	7.52	0.8	3.5B
PacWest Bancorp	9.33	7.32	0.62	2.1B
Spire Inc	9.27	7.73	0.56	1.4B
Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc	9.26	-9.19	0.64	1B
TC PipeLines, LP	9.25	7.6	2.54	2B
Invesco Ltd	9.06	5.05	0.33	4.7B
Fortress Transportation and In	8.98	12.81	1.22	1.5B
Digital Realty Trust, Inc	8.86	9.63	0.41	7.3B
Compass Diversified	8.71	10.95	0.9	1.1B
Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc	8.63	-8	0.78	1.7B
Morgan Stanley	8.6	4.75	0.47	41.4B
Six Flags Entertainment Corpor	8.51	-34.89	-4.43	1.9B
Valero Energy Corporation	8.42	16.9	0.9	18.6B
Enbridge Inc	8.39	12.13	0.9	62.9B
Omega Healthcare Investors, In	8.26	18.85	1.77	7.4B
Fortress Transportation and In	8.25	11.51	1.09	1.4B
Cinemark Holdings, Inc	8.16	-8.67	1.36	1.5B
Diversified Healthcare Trust	8.08	-47.29	1.67	4.6B
Kinder Morgan, Inc	7.94	14.51	0.89	29.2B
Banner Corporation	7.86	10.34	0.74	1.2B
The Williams Companies, Inc	7.83	19.98	1.62	24.5B
TOTAL SE	7.83	12.45	0.86	98.8B
New York Community Bancorp, In	7.8	10.9	0.6	4B
CIT Group Inc	7.77	-3.9	0.31	1.8B
Equinor ASA	7.53	14.54	1.42	50.6B
Marathon Petroleum Corporation	7.5	17.81	0.62	19.6B
Columbia Property Trust, Inc	7.49	-41.52	0.49	1.3B
Murphy Oil Corporation	7.49	-20.45	0.32	1.5B
Northwest Bancshares, Inc	7.49	17.58	0.84	1.3B
Umpqua Holdings Corporation	7.45	-1.52	0.98	2.5B
Uniti Group Inc	7.44	-2.48	-1.09	1.7B
National General Holdings Corp	7.37	7.11	0.97	2.9B
Devon Energy Corporation	7.37	14.78	1	3.3B
RLJ Lodging Trust	7.32	-14.75	0.52	1.5B
AT&T Inc	7.16	8.26	1.08	208.6B
AMERISAFE, Inc	7.13	13.7	2.67	1.2B
Universal Corporation	7.11	12.21	0.82	1.1B
Olin Corporation	7.09	-22.14	0.81	1.8B
First Financial Bancorp	7.08	7.26	0.57	1.3B
Schlumberger Limited	7.06	15.81	1.97	24.6B
People’s United Financial, Inc	7.05	7.92	0.56	4.4B
B&G Foods, Inc	7.02	13.6	2.12	1.7B
Brixmor Property Group Inc	6.98	17.14	1.35	3.6B
FBL Financial Group, Inc	6.93	11.76	0.78	1.2B
Comerica Incorporated	6.91	9.45	0.71	5.5B
F.N.B. Corporation	6.87	6.79	0.47	2.3B
Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc	6.87	-254.75	0.73	2.3B
HollyFrontier Corporation	6.81	8.42	0.53	3.3B
National Health Investors, Inc	6.64	15.15	1.93	2.9B
Ternium S.A	6.63	18.1	0.47	3.5B
Weingarten Realty Investors	6.63	9.13	1.2	2.2B
Phillips 66	6.5	11.23	1.05	24.4B
First Horizon National Corpora	6.45	7.96	0.55	2.9B
Tapestry, Inc	6.41	16.12	1.92	4.4B
Prudential Financial, Inc	6.39	6.92	0.4	26.7B
Urban Edge Properties	6.27	9.32	1.2	1.2B
Huntington Bancshares Incorpor	6.26	12.28	0.79	9.7B
VEREIT, Inc	6.22	-11.5	1.14	7.6B
Unum Group	6.22	3.43	0.35	3.7B
Sterling Bancorp	6.14	19.89	1.15	5.1B
LTC Properties, Inc	6.13	13.63	1.86	1.5B
Monmouth Real Estate Investmen	6.13	-113.55	2.39	2.4B
First Interstate BancSystem, I	6.1	12.15	1.02	2B
PPL Corporation	6.08	11.37	0.61	21B
Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Inc	6.07	16.11	1.31	2.1B
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc	6.06	1.38	0.1	8.9B
Valley National Bancorp	6.05	7.9	0.66	2.9B
KeyCorp	6.02	10.69	0.68	12B
Webster Financial Corporation	5.97	9.17	0.77	2.4B
LyondellBasell Industries N.V	5.92	10.37	2.74	23.7B
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust	5.91	-23.98	0.49	1.7B
Mack-Cali Realty Corporation	5.91	-6.24	0.58	1.2B
The Interpublic Group of Compa	5.9	9.91	2.51	6.6B
SL Green Realty Corp	5.89	15.92	0.58	3.4B
Fulton Financial Corporation	5.88	8.65	0.67	1.6B
Washington Real Estate Investm	5.84	4.33	1.27	1.7B
Office Properties Income Trust	5.83	16.5	0.73	1.2B
Synovus Financial Corp	5.82	9.22	0.63	3.2B
Philip Morris International In	5.82	15.61	-12.38	125.3B
Triton International Limited	5.74	9.02	1.02	2.6B
Piedmont Office Realty Trust,	5.74	4.96	0.95	1.8B
WesBanco, Inc	5.74	11.41	0.58	1.5B
DTE Energy Company	5.73	4.06	0.42	5B
Citizens Financial Group, Inc	5.73	10.65	0.51	11.4B
Mercury General Corporation	5.71	11.26	1.34	2.4B
Compass Diversified	5.7	15.89	1.3	1.6B
United Bankshares, Inc	5.68	11.67	0.59	2.5B
Assurant, Inc	5.6	12.44	1.15	6.9B
South Jersey Industries, Inc	5.59	16.11	0.5	2.1B
Associated Banc-Corp	5.54	5.99	0.5	2B
Regions Financial Corporation	5.52	16.78	0.61	10.8B
Highwoods Properties, Inc	5.47	11.68	1.49	3.6B
Principal Financial Group, Inc	5.47	7.77	0.72	11.2B
TCF Financial Corporation	5.46	8.19	0.69	3.9B
Kimco Realty Corporation	5.44	5.37	0.93	5.2B
Ryder System, Inc	5.43	-10.78	1.03	2.2B
International Paper Company	5.4	10.79	2.32	17B
Old Republic International Cor	5.39	8.24	0.79	4.6B
Franklin Resources, Inc	5.38	7.6	0.85	9.9B
Xerox Holdings Corporation	5.37	6.73	0.71	4B
Cathay General Bancorp	5.35	7.68	0.79	1.8B
Newell Brands Inc	5.35	11.18	2.08	7.3B
American Financial Group, Inc	5.35	9.07	0.97	6B
The Hanover Insurance Group, I	5.34	11.67	1.18	3.6B
FirstEnergy Corp	5.34	11.44	0.57	15.7B
AXIS Capital Holdings Limited	5.34	-17.88	0.41	2.2B
Domtar Corporation	5.22	19.09	0.63	1.5B
Columbia Banking System, Inc	5.22	12.46	0.81	1.8B
Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc	5.22	14.45	0.78	1.1B
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Com	5.21	6.27	0.73	11.9B
Safety Insurance Group, Inc	5.18	11.69	1.27	1B
Bank of Hawaii Corporation	5.17	11.29	1.53	2.1B
Duke Energy Corporation	5.15	5.68	0.44	20.5B
Public Storage	5.14	3.61	0.49	4.4B
Apollo Global Management, Inc	5.11	18.22	2.41	10.2B
OGE Energy Corp	5.1	14	1.7	6.1B
CIT Group Inc	5.1	-5.01	0.4	2.3B
The Kraft Heinz Company	5.08	11.29	0.78	38.5B
National Retail Properties, In	5.08	19.98	1.03	4.4B
Newmark Group, Inc	5.06	3.32	1.3	1.1B
Edison International	5.05	12.26	1.12	18.4B
Greif, Inc	5.04	9.5	1.41	1.7B
Omnicom Group Inc	5.02	9.74	2.68	11.3B
Fidelity National Financial, I	5	8.53	1.44	9.6B

Since NYSE and Nasdaq has a lot more companies that are listed, there are 127 companies that were identified by the Stocks Café stock screener.

A quick glance at the results showed me there are companies with a negative P/E and negative P/B. These are indicators that I have never seen when I ran the dividend stocks screener on SGX. What does it mean?

Can stocks have negative P/E ratio?

We all know that the P/E ratio shows the market value of the stock compared to the company’s earnings. A high P/E typically means a stock’s price is high relative to earnings. A low P/E indicates a stock’s price is low compared to earnings. A negative P/E means that the company is losing money. A consistently negative P/E ratio also means the company can run into the risk of bankruptcy.

Thus, you can see companies such as Cedar Fair, L.P and Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc are paying out dividends even though they are losing money!

I should tweak my condition to include P/E should not be negative!

• Current Yield (%) >= 5 and <= 10
• Price / Earnings <=20 and > 0
• Price / Book <= 3
• Market Capitalization >= 1B

Can stocks have negative P/B ratio?

P/B ratio is the company’s market capitalisation to its book value. P/B ratios under 1 are typically considered solid investments. However, a low P/B ratio could also mean the company is earning a very poor (even negative) return on its assets.

If the P/B is negative, it would mean that the equity is negative. This is certainly possible if the company has had net losses for several years.

I should tweak my condition to include P/B should not be negative!

• Current Yield (%) >= 5 and <= 10
• Price / Earnings <=20 and > 0
• Price / Book <= 3 and > 0
• Market Capitalization >= 1B

Final Results

The watch list is now shorter after I put in the additional criteria. These are the 105 top dividend yielding stocks in the US stock market as of 10th September 2020.

Name	Current Yield %	P/E	P/B	Market Cap
Office Properties Income Trust	9.57	15.02	0.67	1.1B
CenturyLink, Inc	9.48	7.38	0.86	11.6B
Janus Henderson Group plc	9.36	7.52	0.8	3.5B
PacWest Bancorp	9.33	7.32	0.62	2.1B
Spire Inc	9.27	7.73	0.56	1.4B
TC PipeLines, LP	9.25	7.6	2.54	2B
Invesco Ltd	9.06	5.05	0.33	4.7B
Fortress Transportation and In	8.98	12.81	1.22	1.5B
Digital Realty Trust, Inc	8.86	9.63	0.41	7.3B
Compass Diversified	8.71	10.95	0.9	1.1B
Morgan Stanley	8.6	4.75	0.47	41.4B
Valero Energy Corporation	8.42	16.9	0.9	18.6B
Enbridge Inc	8.39	12.13	0.9	62.9B
Omega Healthcare Investors, In	8.26	18.85	1.77	7.4B
Fortress Transportation and In	8.25	11.51	1.09	1.4B
Kinder Morgan, Inc	7.94	14.51	0.89	29.2B
Banner Corporation	7.86	10.34	0.74	1.2B
The Williams Companies, Inc	7.83	19.98	1.62	24.5B
TOTAL SE	7.83	12.45	0.86	98.8B
New York Community Bancorp, In	7.8	10.9	0.6	4B
Equinor ASA	7.53	14.54	1.42	50.6B
Marathon Petroleum Corporation	7.5	17.81	0.62	19.6B
Northwest Bancshares, Inc	7.49	17.58	0.84	1.3B
National General Holdings Corp	7.37	7.11	0.97	2.9B
Devon Energy Corporation	7.37	14.78	1	3.3B
AT&T Inc	7.16	8.26	1.08	208.6B
AMERISAFE, Inc	7.13	13.7	2.67	1.2B
Universal Corporation	7.11	12.21	0.82	1.1B
First Financial Bancorp	7.08	7.26	0.57	1.3B
Schlumberger Limited	7.06	15.81	1.97	24.6B
People’s United Financial, Inc	7.05	7.92	0.56	4.4B
B&G Foods, Inc	7.02	13.6	2.12	1.7B
Brixmor Property Group Inc	6.98	17.14	1.35	3.6B
FBL Financial Group, Inc	6.93	11.76	0.78	1.2B
Comerica Incorporated	6.91	9.45	0.71	5.5B
F.N.B. Corporation	6.87	6.79	0.47	2.3B
HollyFrontier Corporation	6.81	8.42	0.53	3.3B
National Health Investors, Inc	6.64	15.15	1.93	2.9B
Ternium S.A	6.63	18.1	0.47	3.5B
Weingarten Realty Investors	6.63	9.13	1.2	2.2B
Phillips 66	6.5	11.23	1.05	24.4B
First Horizon National Corpora	6.45	7.96	0.55	2.9B
Tapestry, Inc	6.41	16.12	1.92	4.4B
Prudential Financial, Inc	6.39	6.92	0.4	26.7B
Urban Edge Properties	6.27	9.32	1.2	1.2B
Huntington Bancshares Incorpor	6.26	12.28	0.79	9.7B
Unum Group	6.22	3.43	0.35	3.7B
Sterling Bancorp	6.14	19.89	1.15	5.1B
LTC Properties, Inc	6.13	13.63	1.86	1.5B
First Interstate BancSystem, I	6.1	12.15	1.02	2B
PPL Corporation	6.08	11.37	0.61	21B
Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Inc	6.07	16.11	1.31	2.1B
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc	6.06	1.38	0.1	8.9B
Valley National Bancorp	6.05	7.9	0.66	2.9B
KeyCorp	6.02	10.69	0.68	12B
Webster Financial Corporation	5.97	9.17	0.77	2.4B
LyondellBasell Industries N.V	5.92	10.37	2.74	23.7B
The Interpublic Group of Compa	5.9	9.91	2.51	6.6B
SL Green Realty Corp	5.89	15.92	0.58	3.4B
Fulton Financial Corporation	5.88	8.65	0.67	1.6B
Washington Real Estate Investm	5.84	4.33	1.27	1.7B
Office Properties Income Trust	5.83	16.5	0.73	1.2B
Synovus Financial Corp	5.82	9.22	0.63	3.2B
Triton International Limited	5.74	9.02	1.02	2.6B
Piedmont Office Realty Trust,	5.74	4.96	0.95	1.8B
WesBanco, Inc	5.74	11.41	0.58	1.5B
DTE Energy Company	5.73	4.06	0.42	5B
Citizens Financial Group, Inc	5.73	10.65	0.51	11.4B
Mercury General Corporation	5.71	11.26	1.34	2.4B
Compass Diversified	5.7	15.89	1.3	1.6B
United Bankshares, Inc	5.68	11.67	0.59	2.5B
Assurant, Inc	5.6	12.44	1.15	6.9B
South Jersey Industries, Inc	5.59	16.11	0.5	2.1B
Associated Banc-Corp	5.54	5.99	0.5	2B
Regions Financial Corporation	5.52	16.78	0.61	10.8B
Highwoods Properties, Inc	5.47	11.68	1.49	3.6B
Principal Financial Group, Inc	5.47	7.77	0.72	11.2B
TCF Financial Corporation	5.46	8.19	0.69	3.9B
Kimco Realty Corporation	5.44	5.37	0.93	5.2B
International Paper Company	5.4	10.79	2.32	17B
Old Republic International Cor	5.39	8.24	0.79	4.6B
Franklin Resources, Inc	5.38	7.6	0.85	9.9B
Xerox Holdings Corporation	5.37	6.73	0.71	4B
Cathay General Bancorp	5.35	7.68	0.79	1.8B
Newell Brands Inc	5.35	11.18	2.08	7.3B
American Financial Group, Inc	5.35	9.07	0.97	6B
The Hanover Insurance Group, I	5.34	11.67	1.18	3.6B
FirstEnergy Corp	5.34	11.44	0.57	15.7B
Domtar Corporation	5.22	19.09	0.63	1.5B
Columbia Banking System, Inc	5.22	12.46	0.81	1.8B
Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc	5.22	14.45	0.78	1.1B
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Com	5.21	6.27	0.73	11.9B
Safety Insurance Group, Inc	5.18	11.69	1.27	1B
Bank of Hawaii Corporation	5.17	11.29	1.53	2.1B
Duke Energy Corporation	5.15	5.68	0.44	20.5B
Public Storage	5.14	3.61	0.49	4.4B
Apollo Global Management, Inc	5.11	18.22	2.41	10.2B
OGE Energy Corp	5.1	14	1.7	6.1B
The Kraft Heinz Company	5.08	11.29	0.78	38.5B
National Retail Properties, In	5.08	19.98	1.03	4.4B
Newmark Group, Inc	5.06	3.32	1.3	1.1B
Edison International	5.05	12.26	1.12	18.4B
Greif, Inc	5.04	9.5	1.41	1.7B
Omnicom Group Inc	5.02	9.74	2.68	11.3B
Fidelity National Financial, I	5	8.53	1.44	9.6B

Which one will you buy?

Looking for dividend stocks to buy in September 2020 but not sure where to start? As a dividend stock investor, I always keep a watch list of dividend yielding stocks on hand. When stock prices goes up, the current dividend yield decreases. When stock prices fall, the current dividend yield increases. This poses an opportunity for dividend stock investors to pick up the stock at higher yield and cheaper price.

One of the easiest way to create a watch list of dividend yielding stocks is to use a stock screener. My favourite stock screener is from Stocks Café. There are plenty of stock screening tools out there. You can use the one you are comfortable with.

I am a medium risk type of investor and thus I never looked at stocks with dividend yield more than 10%. Below are the conditions I set in the stock screener to identify dividend stocks.

• Current Yield (%) >= 5 and <= 10
• Price / Earnings <=20
• Price / Book <= 3
• Market Capitalization >= 1B

Below are the top dividend yielding stocks as of 11th September 2020 for your reference.

Name	Current Yield %	P/E	P/B	Market Cap
CromwellReit EUR	8.767	9.27	0.855	1.1B
CromwellReit SGD	8.474	9.96	0.895	1.8B
Ascendas-iTrust	8.154	6.09	1.226	1.6B
SPH	7.547	8.39	0.495	1.7B
OUE Commercial Reit	7.108	14.98	0.607	2B
ComfortDelGro	6.527	14.08	1.312	3.3B
Olam International	6.452	7.48	0.705	4B
Jardine Cycle & Carriage	6.031	5.9	0.757	7.1B
CDL Hospitality Trust	6.009	11.4	0.717	1.3B
Yanlord Land	5.913	3.38	0.401	2.2B
Hong Leong Finance	5.895	9.92	0.538	1B
UOB	5.876	8.4	0.808	32.2B
CapitaRetail China Trust	5.816	7.36	0.699	1.4B
DBS	5.558	9.42	1.041	52.1B
Far East Hospitality Trust	5.491	17.41	0.642	1.1B
Suntec Reit	5.409	10.56	0.709	4.2B
OUE	5.263	3.08	0.268	1B
OCBC Bank	5.117	8.59	0.815	37.8B

From the list, we can see the 3 local banks UOB, DBS and OCBC Bank offering attractive dividend yields of 5.876%, 5.558% and 5.117% respectively.

UOB, DBS Group and OCBC Bank are currently trading at S$19.40, S$20.51, S$8.58 respectively.

Dividend investors should know that the current dividend yield is computed using the previous full year dividend payout divided by the current share price. This excludes the consideration that most companies might slash dividends this financial year due to COVID-19 pandemic. The actual dividend yield may be lower this year.

Thus, remember to study into each company carefully before jumping onto the bandwagon based on the current dividend yield.