5 Small Caps with Low P/E & PEG Ratios that Pay a Dividend

So much attention is paid to the large cap names in the stock market often small companies with solid operating metrics go overlooked.

As such, I ran a search using the following criteria:

• U.S.-based companies
• Market cap between $1 - $10 billion dollars
• Stock up >20% this year
• Max price to earnings ratio of 10.00
• Max PEG ratio of 1.00
• Paid a dividend as of last reporting period.

Just 10 companies met those criteria.

Here are 5 of the companies, listed by order of performance this year:

XL Capital Ltd. (NYSE: XL): Insurers' stock up 246% this year, though well off its high of two years ago.   Forward P/E is under 5 and it pays a 3.1% dividend yield.   Recently seem some insider buying of shares.

Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN): Hard hit hotelier's net income has been wiped out the past two years by the recession and reduction in travel.   Still, stock up nearly 70% this year and it pays a 1.45% dividend.   Sign of industry turnaround optimism?   Watch debt load as it exceeds Wyndham's market cap.

Bucyrus International (NASD: BUCY):  Mining equipment manufacturer helped by resurgence in commodity interest, rising 63% this year and has nearly tripled off its 52 week low.    Board member TJ Rodgers just bought more than 50,000 shares.     Dividend is a slight 0.4%, but P/E ratio is around 8.

Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI):  Investors shrugging off health care overhaul concern and sending Cigna shares up nearly 40% this year.    Premium and annuity revenue up nearly $3 billion dollars in past four years.    Beware though as earnings per share has tumbled the past few years.

Noble Corp (NYSE: NE): Oil and gas driller's revenue has more than tripled in past five years.   P/E ratio under 5 is the lowest of these stocks.   Four insiders bought shares at the end of May.   More than $500 million in cash and equivalents on the books as of last reporting.

I will write about the next 5 stocks that made the stock screen cut tomorrow.

Remember, this is not a promotion of these companies nor should it be considered investment advice.   I am merely pointing out some companies that met some pretty tough criteria in what's been a tough market.