Dividend investing in tech hardware sees a boost as Cisco

Dividend investing in tech hardware sees a boost as Cisco Systems maintains a 3% yield, supported by rising enterprise network infrastructure spending in Q Given that dividend payments have been shrinking like a glacier in a warming world, we need to check if there are some bright spots on the horizon. Over the past five years, it looks as though Cracker Barrel Old Country Store's EPS has declined at around 15% a year. A sharp decline in earnings per share is not great from from a dividend perspective. Even conservative payout ratios can come under pressure if earnings fall far enough. On the bright side, earnings are predicted to gain some ground over the next year, but until this turns into a pattern we wouldn't be feeling too comfortable. We move to Ares Capital ( ARCC ), a specialty finance company that provides direct loans and other investments to private middle-market companies. Ares pays a quarterly dividend of 48 cents per share. At an annualized dividend of $1.92 per share, ARCC stock offers a yield of 9.4%. Bank stocks remain a mixed bag for dividend investing in Q2