Nairobi, Jan. 14 -- Higher share prices at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) have cut the dividend yields for a majority of companies to single digits, forcing investors to consider alternative performance metrics such as profit ratios when making their stock picks in the market.

The bourse has seen its valuation go up by Sh1 trillion or 49.3 percent to Sh3.04 trillion over the last 12 months, mainly on double-digit percentage gains among large blue chip stocks that are also the more consistent dividend payers in the market.

Before the bull run of the last two years, dividend paying stocks were offering investors high yields that competed favourably with returns on government paper, including tax free infrastructure bonds.

The yiel...