Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 6/30/15, American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK), and Western Digital Corp. (NASD: WDC) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. American Express Co. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.29 on 8/10/15, Torchmark Corp. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.135 on 7/31/15, and Western Digital Corp. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.50 on 7/15/15.
As a percentage of AXP's recent stock price of $80.07, this dividend works out to approximately 0.36%, so look for shares of American Express Co. to trade 0.36% lower — all else being equal — when AXP shares open for trading on 6/30/15. Similarly, investors should look for TMK to open 0.23% lower in price and for WDC to open 0.59% lower, all else being equal.
Below are dividend history charts for AXP, TMK, and WDC, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP):
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 1.45% for American Express Co., 0.92% for Torchmark Corp., and 2.36% for Western Digital Corp..
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In Friday trading, American Express Co. shares are currently up about 0.2%, Torchmark Corp. shares are up about 0.4%, and Western Digital Corp. shares are down about 1.5% on the day.
