Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 2/18/20, Consolidated Edison Inc (Symbol: ED), AFLAC Inc (Symbol: AFL), and Applied Materials, Inc. (Symbol: AMAT) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. Consolidated Edison Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.765 on 3/16/20, AFLAC Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.28 on 3/2/20, and Applied Materials, Inc. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.21 on 3/11/20. As a percentage of ED's recent stock price of $93.85, this dividend works out to approximately 0.82%, so look for shares of Consolidated Edison Inc to trade 0.82% lower — all else being equal — when ED shares open for trading on 2/18/20. Similarly, investors should look for AFL to open 0.53% lower in price and for AMAT to open 0.31% lower, all else being equal.
Below are dividend history charts for ED, AFL, and AMAT, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.
Consolidated Edison Inc (Symbol: ED):
AFLAC Inc (Symbol: AFL):
Applied Materials, Inc. (Symbol: AMAT):
In general, dividends are not always predictable, following the ups and downs of company profits over time. Therefore, a good first due diligence step in forming an expectation of annual yield going forward, is looking at the history above, for a sense of stability over time. This can help in judging whether the most recent dividends from these companies are likely to continue. If they do continue, the current estimated yields on annualized basis would be 3.26% for Consolidated Edison Inc, 2.13% for AFLAC Inc, and 1.25% for Applied Materials, Inc..
In Friday trading, Consolidated Edison Inc shares are currently up about 0.2%, AFLAC Inc shares are up about 0.1%, and Applied Materials, Inc. shares are up about 0.1% on the day.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
