For higher yielding and more conservative equities, such as REITs and certain MLPs, an Outperform rating is used for securities where we are comfortable with the
relative safety of the dividend and expect a total return modestly exceeding the dividend yield over the next 12 - 18 months.
The high dividend yield relative to peers naturally makes me question
the safety of the dividend.
Safety of the dividend was a key point.
The first is
the safety of the dividend.
Many investors concentrate on the dividend yield but don't give sufficient attention to
the safety of that dividend.
Informed with this knowledge, we developed the forward - looking Valuentum Dividend Cushion ™, which is a ratio that gauges
the safety of a dividend over time.
The high dividend yield relative to peers naturally makes me question
the safety of the dividend.
Generally speaking, we will sell a stock for one of four reasons: (1)
the safety of the dividend payment has come into question due to unexpected fundamental weakness; (2) the company's long term earnings power appears to have become impaired as a result of new competition, secular changes, etc; (3) the stock's valuation reaches seemingly excessive levels; or (4) we have a new stock idea with a more attractive valuation and fundamental outlook.
Many investors concentrate on the dividend yield but don't give sufficient attention to
the safety of that dividend.
We also evaluate how a company performed during the last recession to assess
the safety of its dividend.
When it comes to analyzing
the safety of a dividend, cash flow is a better indicator than earnings.
It's also important to analyze the balance sheet to determine
the safety of the dividend.
Additionally, the legendary investor Ben Graham shared his feelings on
the safety of dividend paying stocks when he wrote in the value investor's Bible, The Intelligent Investor in Chapter 11, Security Analysis for the Lay Investor as follows:
With a bad management team you want them to not have much spare capital for bad decisions, but would you trust
the safety of the dividend and commitment to the buyback to a bad management team?
If you're going to get involved with dividend investing, there are methods you can follow to improve
the safety of your dividend.
While the blue - chip screen helps to reveal strong firms, Weiss also relies on many traditional ratios as indications of
the safety of the dividend and the attractiveness of the yield.
By analyzing cash flow, payout ratios, dividend track records, and other variables, Safety Net Pro assigns each stock an A-F rating on
the safety of its dividend.
Thus, the notion that the 2008 - 2009 recession constituted some sort of definitive test of
the safety of dividends of companies that continued to pay and raise dividends throughout this particular recession exhibits great historical ignorance by those that make these sorts of arguments.
Overall, the stability of Duke Energy's earnings and non-discretionary nature of its services significantly boost
the safety of its dividend payment despite its levered balance sheet and relatively high payout ratio.
I don't fear a near - term dividend cut, but without a track record to rely on, I can not recommend
the safety of the dividend.