Dividend-News

Companies Continue To Skip Or Keep Dividend Increases Small In First Part Of May

Published Mon, 18 May 2020 01:38:56 -0400 on Seeking Alpha

More companies skipped their annual dividend increase in the first half of May to preserve liquidity.
Although Leggett & Platt, National HealthCare and Weyco held payouts steady, the biggest increase came from a company in a safe sector: Chesapeake Utilities.
I’m expecting more companies to hold payouts steady in the latter half of May and for any increases to continue to be smaller than usual.
This is the latest in a series of articles where I provide my predictions of annual dividend increases for a variety of long-term dividend growth companies. Back at the beginning of May, I provided predictions for 10 dividend growth companies that have historically announced annual payout increases in the first half of the month. Now, in the middle of May, I provide my predictions for another 8 companies that historically have increased their dividends in the second half of the month.
Of the 10 companies I looked at two weeks ago, three companies declined to increase their dividend due to the economic uncertainty from the pandemic and associated shutdowns around the country. And as I was preparing this article, Extra Space Storage (EXR), which has announced annual increases in the 2nd half of May for each of the last 9 years, announced that it was also holding its dividend steady. Finally, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL) announced that it was deferring its previously announced dividend payment scheduled to be paid on May 5th to September 2nd. The company is also suspending future dividends and share buybacks until further notice.
Before I offer my predictions for announcements of dividend increases from 8 more companies in the latter half of May, here are how my predictions for the first half of May came out (you can see the original article with my predictions here):
(All yields are based on stock prices at the market close on Friday, May 15th.)
Results for the 11 Dividend Increase Predictions from the Second Half of April
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