Given the historically low interest rate and return environment, investors hungry for yield have been gravitating toward dividend stocks, but the valuation advantage of this asset class has diminished. This according to an article in this week’s Forbes by Validea CEO John Reese.

“Since yield no longer provides a reliable valuation tool” writes Reese, “investors in search of such dividends must be sure to use other metrics to gauge value.” He emphasizes the importance of evaluating a company’s fundamentals and identifies six high-dividend stocks (yields above 3%) that score well according to his guru-based screening models:

• United Microelectronics (UMC) is a global semiconductor foundry favored for its price-cash flow and price-book ratios as well as modest debt compared to equity.
• Sun Life Financial (SLF) is the holding company of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, which provides a range of wealth products and services. The company boasts persistent earnings-per-share and a favorable price-sales ratio.
• HP Inc. (HPQ), a provider of products, technologies software solutions and other services, enjoys a strong earnings yield and favorable cash flow-per-share, and sales (TTM) exceed the market mean by over 1.5 times.
• Maiden Holdings Ltd. (MHLD) is a holding company for businesses focused on serving the needs of regional and specialty insurers. The company shows a favorable ratio of price-earnings to earnings-per-share growth as well as strong free cash flow.
• Verizon Communications (VZ) provides communications, information and entertainment products and services. Both cash flow-per-share and trailing 12-month sales exceed the market mean.
• Steelcase (SCS), a provider of furniture settings, user-centered technologies and interior architectural products, has favorable price-sales and debt-equity ratios and earns high marks for long-term growth in earnings-per-share.