Informacion para un autonomo del dividendo
Signs of Life: S&P 500 Indicated Dividend Rate Turns Up
S&P 500 Dividend Payments Decline 8% in First Quarter
New York, March 19, 2010 – Standard & Poor’s, the world’s leading index provider, announced today that the S&P 500 indicated dividend rate has turned up, registering net positive announcements of $4.4 billion in expected dividend payments -- the largest increase since the $6.7 billion that was registered in the fourth quarter of 2007, and in sharp contrast to the first quarter of last year which saw companies decrease their forward rate by a record $38.7 billion.
In 2009, S&P 500 companies paid out $196 billion in cash dividends, a massive $52 billion decline from the $248 billion paid in 2008. The declining payments continued into the first quarter of 2010, which are expected to decline 8%, leaving investors another $2.8 billion short in dividend payments.
Quarter-to-date, 75 S&P 500 issues have increased their dividend rates with two decreasing. This compares favorably to the first quarter of 2009, which was the worst quarter for dividends in history (55 increases and 46 decreases). More revealing is that during the current period, the declared dividend changes net out to be a $4.4 billion annual gain in forward payments, compared to last year’s $38.7 billion declared reduction in payments.
“Of significance is that seven issues in four different sectors were confident enough in their future earnings ability to initiate a dividend this quarter, which speaks to the recovery,” says Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at S&P Indices. “April will be a critical month for dividends, with several large dividend payers having a history of declaring a dividend rate increase during the month.”
Four issues, Exxon Mobil (which is the second largest dividend payer, paying $8.0 billion annually), International Business Machines (#17 with $2.9 billion), Johnson & Johnson (#5 with $5.4 billion), and Procter & Gamble (#7 with $5.1 billion), represent 10.8% of the S&P 500 total payments, and, to some degree, “are up for renewal”. Exxon, Johnson & Johnson, and P&G are all S&P DividendAristocrats (www.dividendaristocrats.standardandpoors.com), which means that they have increased their dividend rates for at least 25 years in a row, while IBM has increased 13 years in a row.
“Investors will put an increasing emphasis on dividends for both current income and longer-term capital appreciation. This additional emphasis will add pressure to non-paying dividend issues with sufficient and stable enough resources to initiate payments,” concludes Silverblatt.
Additional dividend research from Standard & Poor’s can be found by visiting: www.marketattributes.standardandpoors.com and clicking on “Dividends”.
“Los dos guerreros más poderosos son paciencia y tiempo.” (León Tolstoi)