Distress Like a used car's disrepair following many miles of aggressive driving, some high -
yield companies fall prey to distress.
Not exact matches
Because a
falling stock price typically represents poor business fundamentals, a
company with a temporarily high
yield is often a
company that is about to cut its dividend.
Knowing that market predictability is all a guess, all I can really do is diversify my investments among
companies that sport safe and reliable
yields all the while simply holding and averaging down my cost should prices
fall dramatically and make monthly buys no matter what's going on in the world or market.
Oil prices have
fallen more than 15 percent since March 4 to a six - year low of $ 42.3, wiping out $ 7 billion of market value of high -
yield debt issued by energy
companies.
High - dividend stocks such as utilities and phone
companies fell; those stocks are often compared to bonds and they tend to
fall when bond
yields rise, as higher bond
yields make the stocks less appealing to investors seeking income.
High -
yield bonds are usually issued by firms that have an uncertain financial outlook — either they have
fallen into deteriorating credit situations, they are emerging growth
companies, or they are undergoing corporate restructurings.
When stock prices
fall, dividend
yields rise unless the
company has to reduce its quarterly payouts.
Banks and Insurance
companies appear to have been very rational in their portfolio management of Treasury holdings over time, cutting back as
yield levels
fell over multi-decade periods.
If the stock appreciates, the current
yield may
fall — even as the
company increases the dividend.
• The
company's current
yield falls to a very low percentage (perhaps no longer delivering the amount of income that you want from that stock) or climbs to a very high percentage (suggesting that the dividend is in danger).
In this environment, where
yields have
fallen over the past few years, it is difficult for financial
companies that have bought bonds to replace the income if they sell the bond.
insurance
companies and retirees) crowd into the high
yield stocks as interest rates
fall, and then exit when rates rises.
In fact, one reason many
companies have overly high
yields is because the stock price has
fallen significantly, usually due to a loss in future earnings power, and this means the
yield has moved up, but only temporarily, as the market is pricing in a dividend cut.
A high
yield percentage could just mean that the value of the stock has
fallen, and that the
company is going to soon cut the dividend.
However,
yields can also increase simply because a
company's share price is
falling.
If a
company's bond ratings are downgraded, the price of the bonds usually
falls, resulting in increased
yields.
Because a
falling stock price typically represents poor business fundamentals, a
company with a temporarily high
yield is often a
company that is about to cut its dividend.
Of course,
yields on 10 - year Treasuries (USGG10YR) have since
fallen to 2.6 percent from 3 percent at the end of December and
company bonds have resumed their rally.