Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 2/2/15, First Trust MLP and Energy Income Fund (NYSE: FEI), Xilinx, Inc. (NASD: XLNX), and Phillips 66 Partners LP (NYSE: PSXP) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. First Trust MLP and Energy Income Fund will pay its monthly dividend of $0.1134 on 2/17/15, Xilinx, Inc. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.29 on 2/25/15, and Phillips 66 Partners LP will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.34 on 2/13/15.
As a percentage of FEI's recent stock price of $20.16, this dividend works out to approximately 0.56%, so look for shares of First Trust MLP and Energy Income Fund to trade 0.56% lower — all else being equal — when FEI shares open for trading on 2/2/15. Similarly, investors should look for XLNX to open 0.75% lower in price and for PSXP to open 0.46% lower, all else being equal.
Below are dividend history charts for FEI, XLNX, and PSXP, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.
First Trust MLP and Energy Income Fund (NYSE: FEI):
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 6.75% for First Trust MLP and Energy Income Fund, 2.98% for Xilinx, Inc., and 1.85% for Phillips 66 Partners LP.
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In Thursday trading, First Trust MLP and Energy Income Fund shares are currently down about 0.3%, Xilinx, Inc. shares are up about 0.4%, and Phillips 66 Partners LP shares are down about 1.6% on the day.
