Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 11/21/14, GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME), Matthews International Corp (NASD: MATW), and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. GameStop Corp will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.33 on 12/16/14, Matthews International Corp will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.13 on 12/8/14, and Johnson & Johnson will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.70 on 12/9/14.
As a percentage of GME's recent stock price of $44.00, this dividend works out to approximately 0.75%, so look for shares of GameStop Corp to trade 0.75% lower — all else being equal — when GME shares open for trading on 11/21/14. Similarly, investors should look for MATW to open 0.28% lower in price and for JNJ to open 0.65% lower, all else being equal.
Below are dividend history charts for GME, MATW, and JNJ, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.
GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME):
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 3.00% for GameStop Corp, 1.12% for Matthews International Corp, and 2.59% for Johnson & Johnson.
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In Wednesday trading, GameStop Corp shares are currently down about 0.1%, Matthews International Corp shares are down about 1.1%, and Johnson & Johnson shares are down about 0.6% on the day.