He’s been saying this for years. Like him or not, he’s an astute investor who knows a thing or two about how businesses work. He’s a disciple of the late Benjamin Graham — one of the sharpest minds in stock market analysis over the years.
The bottom line for these guys is that companies aren’t worth a damn unless they put real money in the pockets of their owners — i.e., by paying dividends. There’s something to be said for that. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why anyone would invest in companies like Facebook or Amazon that have never once paid a dividend to their shareholders.
High growth companies often don't pay dividends because they are capital hungry (and reinvested capital means less leverage, less dilution, or both to current shareholders)...and mature companies pay dividends because, being less capital hungry, they can distribute excess cash generated to investors.
Dividends are not a good indicator of the quality of an investment.