Read the full article on Investing.com.
Excerpt:
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Amid an onslaught of fourth-quarter earnings reports, dividend change announcements are to the positive side in a big way
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Walmart announced a 3:1 stock split – is a new wave of split activity on the way?
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Sentiment appears to be trending better despite macro uncertainties
With a hefty chunk of Q4 earnings reports in the books, total profits for S&P 500 companies look to have been roughly unchanged from the 2022 sum, according to the latest FactSet numbers. It was a tough year on the macro front with rising interest rates and the looming threat of a snapback in inflation, not to mention all those pessimistic economist projections for a US recession. Furthermore, tepid growth in Europe and soft indicators across the board in China cast a cloud over the global economy. Still, companies managed to hang in there and reward shareholders.
Our team noticed a positive development on the dividend front. For more than six years, Wall Street Horizon has been tracking dividend change announcements from thousands of companies across the globe. While early, Q1 of 2024 is on pace to boast the strongest ratio of dividend increases to decreases since the first quarter of 2018. Typically, the beginning of the year is when we see the greatest number of dividend hikes relative to cuts. It plays into the narrative that firms want to get the new year started off in an optimistic light.