Frequently Asked Questions
The stocks in our dividend list originate from all the world’s main financial centers, which can be accessed relatively easily by foreign investors. However, since we specialize in European stocks, most are from Europe.
To make it on to the list, the issuing company must have a minimum market capitalization of approximately USD 250 million and must pay a regular cash dividend.
We also include slightly smaller companies that represent high quality and, of course, pay a dividend.
If we think a company will resume its suspended dividend payment in the foreseeable future, it may also appear on the list even if it currently does not pay a dividend.
The earnings per share is irrelevant for real-estate investment trusts (REITs), as almost all the profits have to be distributed anyway. The dividend per share therefore equals the earnings per share.
For investment companies and infrastructure companies, the annual profits can often be distorted by factors such as amortization and value adjustments, and are therefore a poor or worthless indicator of the true earnings power.
The dividend yield is usually calculated on the basis of the last annual dividend paid out. If a company announces a major change to the dividend during the financial year, then we calculate the dividend yield on that basis. The calculation basis is shown below the dividend yield for each stock.
Only ordinary cash dividends are included in the calculation. If a company pays a special dividend, this is shown in the data summary. Special dividends also include disbursements due to a capital reduction.
Dividends payments in the form of shares are generally not listed or used in our calculations.
We always show the gross dividend – in other words, the dividend per share before deduction of withholding tax. But we also show the tax rate for each stock in the key data summary.
Yes, investors can rely on our figures. Our database has been offering high quality data since 2006. To ensure it stays that way, we will continue to apply our tried-and-tested rules consistently:
• We do not obtain any information from third-party providers; all figures are collected directly from the companies themselves.
• Before input of data, we perform a plausibility check in order to minimize errors.
• We distinguish between ordinary dividends and special dividends in order to avoid distorted dividend yields.
• Since it is impossible to forecast dividends, we do not use estimates.
Yes. After starting out with 300 dividend stocks, our database has grown to 850. We are constantly on the search for good stocks, meaning that the number of stocks in our database increases each year. We concentrate primarily on European stocks.
The database is checked regularly. Stocks of companies that have merged, or where the quality has diminished considerably, or which no longer pay a dividend are deleted. Of course, we also update the data after capital measures such as stock splits.
The price shown for each stock is its closing price of the previous day.
The key data is updated each year. We enter the earnings per share or dividend per share as soon as it is published by the issuing company. This is usually done within 36 hours.
This is the percentage difference between the current price and the highest price of the last three years.
It allows investors to see quickly whether a company is in trouble. If the price is well below the high, this indicates big problems within the company and combined with a high dividend yield is a clear warning sign.
The stock of a company with few or no problems will usually be quoted close to its peak, which also means safe dividends.