How do you make money with preferred stock?
Similar to a bond, a preferred stock regularly pays income. The difference is that preferred stocks pay income in the form of a dividend, whereas bonds pay interest and the return of principal at maturity. Preferred stock is sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates.
Yields have risen sharply over the past few years and the ICE BofA Fixed Rate Preferred Securities Index now offers an average yield-to-worst of more than 5.5%. That's off its recent high of 7.8% from last fall but is at the high end of the 10-year pre-pandemic range.
Preferred stock is attractive as it usually offers higher fixed-income payments than bonds with a lower investment per share. Preferred stockholders also have a priority claim over common stocks for dividend payments and liquidation proceeds. Its price is usually more stable than common stock.
Among the downsides of preferred shares, unlike common stockholders, preferred stockholders typically have no voting rights. And although preferred stocks offer greater price stability – a bond-like feature – they don't have a claim on residual profits.
Although preferred stock does not pay interest (which relates to borrowed money), its market price is heavily influenced by interest rate changes. The dividend rate of preferred stock is very similar and closely tied to interest rates.
Imagine you wish to amass $3000 monthly from your investments, amounting to $36,000 annually. If you park your funds in a savings account offering a 2% annual interest rate, you'd need to inject roughly $1.8 million into the account.
What Is an Example of a Preferred Stock? Consider a company is issuing a 7% preferred stock at a $1,000 par value. In turn, the investor would receive a $70 annual dividend, or $17.50 quarterly. Typically, this preferred stock will trade around its par value, behaving more similarly to a bond.
Overall, preferred shares are an attractive option for investors seeking steadier income with a slightly higher risk profile than bonds but lower risk than common stock. They can be thought of as a hybrid security with characteristics of both debt and equity instruments.
Preferred stocks often have no maturity date, but they can be redeemed or called by their issuer after a certain date. The call date will depend on the issuing company. There is no minimum or maximum call date, but most companies will set the date five years out from the date of issuance.
- High-yield savings accounts.
- Money market funds.
- Short-term certificates of deposit.
- Series I savings bonds.
- Treasury bills, notes, bonds and TIPS.
- Corporate bonds.
- Dividend-paying stocks.
- Preferred stocks.
Do preferred stocks do well in a recession?
Preferred stocks are particularly attractive investments after major dislocations such as the great financial crisis or the Pandemic. This occurs because the asset class usually becomes oversold with most securities trading well below par value.
Preferred stocks are more difficult to sell than common stocks. While common stocks can be sold in a matter of seconds, preferred stocks can take days or sometimes even weeks to find a buyer willing to take them off your hands . . . and that's when things are going well.
General Risks
A big risk of owning preferred stocks is that shares are often sensitive to changes in interest rates. Because preferred stocks often pay dividends at average fixed rates in the 5% to 6% range, share prices typically fall as prevailing interest rates increase.
Similar to a bond, a preferred stock regularly pays income. The difference is that preferred stocks pay income in the form of a dividend, whereas bonds pay interest and the return of principal at maturity. Preferred stock is sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates.
Government bonds (aka "Treasurys") are generally considered the safest investments because they're backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Other types of bonds include corporate bonds and municipal bonds (earnings on the latter are exempt from federal taxes).
While preferred stock is senior to common equity on a bank's balance sheet, it falls below all other creditors, including subordinated or senior unsecured debt. The risk is that in a bank liquidation, preferred shareholders would get little to nothing in recovery. This is known as subordination risk.
The simplest path from $100,000 to $1 million
The simplest way to invest your money is by using a simple broad-market index fund. An index fund that tracks the S&P 500 or a total stock market index typically has low fees, and it's going to closely match what the overall stock market returns.
- Fixed-income securities.
- Dividend-paying stocks.
- Real estate.
- Business or entrepreneurship.
- High-yield savings accounts.
- Hobbies or interests.
Investing as little as $200 a month can, if you do it consistently and invest wisely, turn into more than $150,000 in as soon as 20 years. If you keep contributing the same amount for another 20 years while generating the same average annual return on your investments, you could have more than $1.2 million.
In virtually all cases, what happens is that the liquidation preference amount (generally equal to the original purchase price paid at the IPO), plus any accrued and unpaid dividends, is returned to the holder of the security. Note that the amount returned has NOTHING to do with the market price prior to maturity date.
Is it better to buy preferred or common stock?
Common stock investments have a potentially larger reward, but also come with more risk because they're exposed to the market. Preferred stock investments are a safer investment with fixed-income dividends, but investors may miss out on a share's appreciation they would get with common stock.
The dividends for preferred stocks are by definition determined in advance and paid out before any dividend for the company's common stock is determined. The dividend may be a set percentage or may be tied to a particular benchmark interest rate. The dividend is generally paid on a quarterly or annual basis.
Companies often offer preferred stock prior to offering common stock, when the company has not yet reached a level of success that would make it sufficiently attractive to large numbers of retail investors. The sale of preferred stock then provides the company with the capital necessary for growth.
APPLE INC.
The Company is authorized to issue Common Stock and Preferred Stock.
Preferred securities count toward regulatory capital requirements so banks issue preferreds to help them maintain their required capital ratio. Preferreds can also offer issuers structural benefits, lower capital costs and improved agency ratings.
