Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 6/26/15, National Healthcare Corp. (AMEX: NHC), Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A), and St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE: STJ) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. National Healthcare Corp. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.40 on 9/1/15, Agilent Technologies, Inc. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.10 on 7/22/15, and St. Jude Medical, Inc. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.29 on 7/31/15.
As a percentage of NHC's recent stock price of $65.78, this dividend works out to approximately 0.61%, so look for shares of National Healthcare Corp. to trade 0.61% lower — all else being equal — when NHC shares open for trading on 6/26/15. Similarly, investors should look for A to open 0.25% lower in price and for STJ to open 0.39% lower, all else being equal.
Below are dividend history charts for NHC, A, and STJ, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.
National Healthcare Corp. (AMEX: NHC):
In general, dividend stocks 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 2.43% for National Healthcare Corp., 1.01% for Agilent Technologies, Inc., and 1.55% for St. Jude Medical, Inc..
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In Wednesday trading, National Healthcare Corp. shares are currently trading flat, Agilent Technologies, Inc. shares are off about 0.4%, and St. Jude Medical, Inc. shares are down about 0.6% on the day.
