Dividends in a World of Wires and Wishes

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The market, as anyone who’s spent more than five minutes observing it will tell you, is a restless beast. Lately, it’s been particularly fidgety, mostly due to the Alchemists of Artificial Intelligence stirring up a right old brew. Everyone’s convinced their golems will either usher in an age of untold prosperity or politely ask us all to move aside.1 This, naturally, makes sensible folk a bit twitchy. And when sensible folk get twitchy, they start looking for things that actually exist. Like dividends.

See, a dividend is a rather beautiful thing. It’s a little piece of the company’s earnings, handed directly to the shareholders. It’s not a promise of future glory, or a belief in the CEO’s magnificent vision. It’s cold, hard cash.2 It’s a small, regular acknowledgement that, for a while at least, the company hasn’t entirely vanished in a puff of logic gates and venture capital. Without dividends, you’re relying on trust. With them, you get something tangible. And in times like these, tangible is good. Very good indeed.

So, for those of you seeking to bolster your portfolios against the whims of silicon and algorithms, allow me to present two contenders. Not shining knights, mind you, but solid, dependable sorts. Tractor Supply, a purveyor of rural necessities, and Meta Platforms, a social nexus that knows far too much about your aunt Mildred.3 They’re different beasts, certainly, but both offer a degree of resilience in a world obsessed with the next shiny thing.

Meta: A Budding Benefactor

Now, you might raise an eyebrow at seeing Meta listed amongst dividend payers. It’s not exactly known for handing out gold doubloons, is it? But remember, a dividend isn’t just about the yield. It’s about the potential. A high yield on a crumbling edifice is a fool’s errand. A modest yield from a company that’s actually, you know, growing? That’s a different matter entirely.

Currently, Meta’s dividend yield is a mere 0.3%. Laughable, some might say. But consider this: their payout ratio – the percentage of earnings they actually distribute – is a paltry 9%. That leaves them with a vast amount of capital to reinvest… or, crucially, to increase that dividend over time. And let’s not forget the balance sheet. They ended 2025 with a hoard of $81.6 billion in cash and marketable securities, against a debt of $58.7 billion. That’s a comfortable cushion, even for a company operating in the ever-shifting sands of the digital world. And their recent performance? Revenue and earnings per share rose 24% and 11% respectively. Not bad for a company supposedly on the brink of obsolescence.4

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Tractor Supply: The Steadfast Supplier

Now, let’s venture away from the digital realm and into the slightly more grounded world of rural living. Tractor Supply isn’t exactly setting the world on fire with growth. Sales rose a modest 4.3% in fiscal 2025, and they’re projecting a similar rate for the coming year. But sometimes, steady wins the race. And Tractor Supply is undeniably steady.

This steadiness translates into a more substantial dividend yield – around 1.7% as of this writing. It also means they pay out a larger percentage of their earnings – around 45%. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It suggests a commitment to returning value to shareholders, even if it means sacrificing some growth. And, crucially, they believe they can accelerate that growth over time. They’re aiming for average annual net sales growth of 6% to 8% and earnings-per-share growth of 8% to 11%. Ambitious, perhaps, but not entirely unrealistic.5

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Both Meta and Tractor Supply trade at reasonable price-to-earnings ratios – 29 and 26 respectively. They’re not screaming bargains, but they’re not outrageously expensive either. Of course, both companies come with risks. The digital world is fickle, and rural economies are subject to their own unique challenges. But, as with any investment, diversification is key. A small position in each could provide a welcome boost to your portfolio, and a comforting reminder that, even in a world of wires and wishes, some things remain… stubbornly real.

1 The Alchemists, naturally, claim their golems are entirely different. They always do. It’s a matter of semantics, mostly. And a considerable amount of marketing budget.
2 Cash, of course, is merely a social construct. But it’s a remarkably effective one.
3 Aunt Mildred is, statistically speaking, on every social network. And she knows far more about you than you’d like to admit.
4 The press, naturally, keeps predicting their imminent demise. They have a vested interest in drama, you see.
5 They’ve got a very persuasive marketing department, too. Let’s not underestimate the power of a well-placed brochure.

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2026-02-10 05:32