Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 2/26/15, McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK), Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE: UHS), and FirstMerit Corp (NASD: FMER) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. McKesson Corp. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.24 on 4/1/15, Universal Health Services, Inc. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.10 on 3/16/15, and FirstMerit Corp will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.16 on 3/16/15.
As a percentage of MCK's recent stock price of $230.75, this dividend works out to approximately 0.10%, so look for shares of McKesson Corp. to trade 0.10% lower — all else being equal — when MCK shares open for trading on 2/26/15. Similarly, investors should look for UHS to open 0.09% lower in price and for FMER to open 0.87% lower, all else being equal.
Below are dividend history charts for MCK, UHS, and FMER, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.
McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK):
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 cash dividends from these companies are likely to continue. If they do continue, the current estimated yields on annualized basis would be 0.42% for McKesson Corp., 0.37% for Universal Health Services, Inc., and 3.50% for FirstMerit Corp.
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In Tuesday trading, McKesson Corp. shares are currently up about 0.4%, Universal Health Services, Inc. shares are up about 0.1%, and FirstMerit Corp shares are up about 0.7% on the day.
