Billionaire Mario Gabelli’s Top Dividend Picks

Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC)

– Shares Owned by GAMCO Investors (as of December 31): 2.24 Million

– Value of GAMCO’s Holding (as of December 31): $192.15 Million

– Dividend Yield: 2.89%

GAMCO Investors owned 2.24 million shares of Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) at the end of December 2015, 49,740 shares less as compared to the stake held a quarter earlier. The shares of the automotive replacement parts distributor are 6% in the green year-to-date. Earlier this month, the company’s Board of Directors agreed to increase the cash dividend payment to an annual rate of $2.63 per share, up from the previous dividend of $2.46 per share. Genuine Parts Capital has paid dividends each year since going public in 1948, while 2016 marks the 60th straight year of increased dividend payments. Genuine Parts Company generated sales of $15.28 billion during 2015, down from $15.34 billion posted for 2014. Its net income for the year inched down by 1% year-on-year to $705.7 million. The number of hedge funds monitored by Insider Monkey bullish on the company dropped to 21 from 23 during the December quarter. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management upped its holding in Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) by 35% to approximately 629,000 shares in the last three months of 2015.

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

– Shares Owned by GAMCO Investors (as of December 31): 2.68 Million

– Value of GAMCO’s Holding (as of December 31): $186.54 Million

– Dividend Yield: 2.10%

GAMCO Investors cut its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 71,740 shares during the December quarter, remaining with 2.68 million shares worth $186.54 million. The shares of the credit-card issuer have lost 21% since the beginning of 2016, making the stock one of the worst-performing components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) this year. The global services company has been faced with worsening fundamentals due to pressures on merchant fees, changing regulatory environment and toughening competition in the payments industry. Just recently, American Express Company announced its plans to overhaul its management, restructure its marketing operations and cut $1 billion in costs over the next two years. The company pays out an annualized dividend of $1.16 per share, which signifies a current dividend yield of 2.10%. Among the funds we track, 53 held positions in American Express at the end of December and stockpiled 20.50% of the company’s outstanding stock. Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management reported ownership of 11.73 million shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) in the latest round of 13F filings.

Disclosure: None