Corporate Dividends Are Drying Up According to Bankrupt Newspaper

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

In February, General Electric Co. — the classic widows-and-orphans stock — cut its dividend for the first time since 1938, a move that will save the company about $9 billion a year.
The January to March period marked the first quarter since Standard & Poor’s started recording dividend data in 1955 that the number of dividend cuts was greater than the number of dividend increases. A record low 283 companies announced dividend increases in the first quarter of 2009.
“While the number of dividend decreases is at a record high, the number of increases has set a new record low,” said S&P senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt in April. “Since 1955, the average has been 15 increases for every decrease. Now its three increases for every four decreases.”

Posted by on May 31st, 2009 at 12:13 pm


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