After cautioning in early May that "by no means is the dividend untouchable," National Retail Properties (NNN) appears to feel more confident that its payout will remain secure as lockdown measures continue easing. In April, NNN's 52% rent collection rate was among the weakest of any retail REIT. But at an investor conference on June 8, management [...]

On June 15, STORE Capital (STOR) provided a business update and opted to maintain its dividend for the second quarter. Management was encouraged by an increase in rent collection, giving the team more confidence that cash flow coverage will improve in subsequent months to preserve STORE's financial strength. STORE said it had received 76% of [...]

McDonald's (MCD) provided a business update yesterday which showed continued improvement in sales trends from late March through May. In the U.S. (36% of total revenue), comparable sales were down only 5.1% in May, a meaningful improvement compared to a 19.2% decline in April.  Overall, comparable sales worldwide fell about 21% in May, improving from a 39% [...]

On June 16, National Health Investors (NHI) provided a brief business update and maintained its regular dividend for the second quarter. As we discussed in our May note, NHI's dividend faces some uncertainty due to the pandemic's impact on the senior housing industry (nearly 70% of NHI's revenues). Senior housing operators, which have low margins to begin with, [...]

On June 11, ONEOK (OKE) announced it would sell 26 million shares of common stock, increasing its shares outstanding by about 6.3%. The offering was priced at $32 per share, well below the stock's $42 closing price the previous day. As a result, ONEOK's stock slumped about 16% on Thursday and 4% on Friday, finishing the week [...]

Since bottoming on March 23, shares of Con Edison (ED) have returned less than 20% while the utilities sector (XLU) has rallied 40%. As a result, Con Ed's dividend yield still hovers near 4%, above its longer-term average. Like its peers, Con Ed faces a number of challenges stemming from the pandemic including reduced power [...]

NetApp (NTAP) sells hardware and software to enterprises implementing data storage solutions at on-premise data centers and within cloud environments. Modern companies produce huge amounts of data that can be rapidly analyzed, securely accessed, and easily monitored with NetApp's storage solutions. Competition is stiff. Not only does NetApp contend with hardware providers like Dell, IBM, [...]

None of the oil majors can cover their capital spending and dividends at today's oil price, even after slashing their investment plans. Oil needs to be closer to $50 to $60 per barrel for these companies to breakeven on their obligations, according to data from Bloomberg. Source: Bloomberg, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Simply Safe Dividends The [...]

Franklin (BEN) reported earnings on April 30, providing a first look into the impacts of March's market turmoil on the active fund manager. Naturally, Franklin's investments declined in concert with markets. Assets under management (AUM) fell 17% to $580 billion, leading to a 7% decline in management fee revenue compared to the previous quarter. More notably, a [...]

None of the oil majors can cover their capital spending and dividends at today's oil price, even after slashing their investment plans. Oil needs to be closer to $50 to $60 per barrel for these companies to breakeven on their obligations, according to data from Bloomberg. Source: Bloomberg, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Simply Safe Dividends The [...]

Shares of AbbVie (ABBV) have had a dividend yield above 5% for most of the past year, reflecting uncertainty about the biopharma company's growth profile. AbbVie's rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, which in 2019 accounted for over 55% of sales and an even greater share of profits, loses exclusivity in the U.S. in 2023. That long-term [...]

On April 13, we discussed the challenges facing National Health Investors (NHI) due to the COVID-19 crisis:  Overall, the pandemic has increased NHI's risk profile. The REIT has some of the highest exposure to senior housing and skilled nursing, two areas of healthcare that could face the most pressure from the coronavirus outbreak.Coupled with NHI's small scale [...]

Polaris had good news for dividend investors yesterday when the company announced its regular quarterly payout and shared a brief business update. Earlier this month, we cited concerns about Polaris' leverage ratio (total debt to EBITDA) rising as cash flow declined due to closed dealerships, supply chain disruptions, and high unemployment crimping demand for the firm's products. The immediate [...]

Altria (MO) shares have slumped over 20% since December 2018 when management announced plans to pay $12.8 billion for a 35% stake in e-vapor leader Juul. During that period, international cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris has seen its stock price appreciate about 7%, and the S&P 500 has gained 22%. Put simply, Altria's untimely investment in [...]

TJX Companies (TJX) reported earnings on Thursday and officially suspended its dividend through at least the second quarter. The off-price retailer closed all of its stores and online businesses in mid-March, resulting in an unprecedented decline in sales and cash flow. On March 20, we downgraded TJX's Dividend Safety Score to Borderline Safe given risk that stores would stay closed for [...]