Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 3/6/15, Anthem Inc (NYSE: ANTM), Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX), and CNO Financial Group Inc (NYSE: CNO) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. Anthem Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.625 on 3/25/15, Becton, Dickinson and Co. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.60 on 3/31/15, and CNO Financial Group Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.06 on 3/24/15.
As a percentage of ANTM's recent stock price of $144.85, this dividend works out to approximately 0.43%, so look for shares of Anthem Inc to trade 0.43% lower — all else being equal — when ANTM shares open for trading on 3/6/15. Similarly, investors should look for BDX to open 0.41% lower in price and for CNO to open 0.37% lower, all else being equal.
Below are dividend history charts for ANTM, BDX, and CNO, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.
Anthem Inc (NYSE: ANTM):
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 1.73% for Anthem Inc, 1.64% for Becton, Dickinson and Co., and 1.48% for CNO Financial Group Inc.
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In Wednesday trading, Anthem Inc shares are currently down about 0.8%, Becton, Dickinson and Co. shares are down about 0.2%, and CNO Financial Group Inc shares are down about 0.6% on the day.
