Dividend Plays Getting More Popular And Expensive (T, VZ, AMJ, NSH)

With investors clamoring for yield in a very low interest rate environment high quality dividend payers (which largely lagged the general market for most of the year) have begun to outperform recently.

High dividend telecoms, including AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) are up close to 7% and 12% respectively over the past month alone. This compares to a 1.3% increase in the S&P 500. Both AT&T and Verizon yield about 6%.

Nustar Group LLC (NYSE: NSH), a Master Limited Partnership, which now sports a 6.7% yield is up 6% over the past month. The JP Morgan Alerian MLP ETN (NYSE: AMJ) is up 3.5% over the past 30 days.

One can clearly see the search for yield has crossed into the equity arena. Investors looking to initiate a position in these areas should average in, as the recent run-up might not prove durable.