Dividend cuts have begun

We track dividend changes and things are starting to look grim.

Below is a chart of dividend increases and dividend cuts compiled over the course of the last year. You can see peaks around the quarterly earnings reporting seasons. Usually, dividend increases either roughly match the number of decreases or they clearly outnumber the decreases. This year, dividend cuts dominate.

What is worrisome is that the number of dividend cuts, after taking a big jump and then subsiding, is once again rapidly increasing.

If you want see our data on dividend changes, every weekend we publish a list of increases and a list of cuts that have occurred during that week. Visit the following pages:

In summary, the trajectory of dividend changes, increases and cuts, does not bode well for the health of this market.