Interest Rates and Their Effect on Small Businesses
Predicting future interest rate movements is not only important for traders who invest in financial markets. Instead, it is also important for regular business people. It is important for small businesses because the increase and decrease in demand is related to interest rates which the central bank sets. The problem is that most central banks […]
The Economics of Sports Leagues
The discipline of economics is generally valid for all industries across the world. This is because the basic fundamental economic principles of demand, supply, and free market are applicable to almost all industries in the world. There are only a few industries where these economic principles are not really applicable. The sporting industry is one […]
Bank Loans vs. Bonds: Debt Financing in Infrastructure Projects
Debt financing is the most important source of finance for infrastructure projects. In most infrastructure projects, the majority of the project is funded using debt-based financial instruments. Equity holders invest a significantly smaller amount. However, they bear all the risks. The size and scale of debt financing make it an important decision for any company […]
Stock Valuation – The Discounted Cash Flow Approach in Detail
In the past article we have seen how Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) is the most appropriate method of stock valuation because it is rational and objective. Now, it is time we have a look at the details of this model. Present Value of Expected Future Cash Flows The basic of this model seems to be […]
Estimating Project Cash Flows: Part 2
We have seen in the previous article that estimating cash flows can be quite confusing and counterintuitive. This is not because they are difficult to calculate. It is just because the course of action taken is opposite to what would have been taken in the case of accounting. Accounting is concerned with matching expenses to […]
Investors can be classified into types. The two predominant types are growth oriented investors and value oriented investors. Growth oriented investors invest in young growing companies. They expect returns in the form of capital appreciation backed by the high rate growth in the operations and profitability of the firm. On the other hand value investors invest in mature stable companies and expect returns in the form of stable cash flows paid in the form on dividends over and over again. The Dividend Yield ratio is meant for the second type of investors i.e. the value investors.
Dividend Yield = Annualized Dividend / Current Stock Price
Most companies pay dividends on a quarterly basis rather than on an annual basis. Hence for the purpose of finding out the dividend yield, analysts often annualize the dividend paid in the most recent quarter. They think it better projects the dividend paying ability of a company.
Value investors often look at the stock of a company, the way a real estate investor looks at rental properties. They expect to put money one down one time and expect to receive payments for the rest of their lives. Hence the dividend yield tells them a percentage of their original investment that they would receive each year, if they invested in the stocks right away.
The dividend yield ratio assumes that the company in question will continue making dividend payments at the same or higher rate than it is currently doing. A historical analysis of the stock market will validate this assumption. Historically companies that have been making dividend payments continue to do so. This is because a dividend cut is adversely received by the market as a very negative signal and the share price immediately plummets. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the company will continue to pay dividends until something untoward happens.
The dividend yield company must be compared to competing investment options to get a better picture of the operations of the firm. It must also be applied to the company’s own historical records to validate the fact that it has indeed been making regular dividend payments.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
