For dividend of the week I am going to use CountdownMax to have a look at what is going ex-dividend in the coming weeks and try to pick out some value. Almost half of the FTSE 100 has declared their dividends and go ex in the next couple of months, so there are a lot of guaranteed income opportunities out there.
The first stock that catches the eye is Standard Life which on the 3rd April is paying a dividend of 9.8p per share plus a special dividend of 12.8p per share. Thats 22.6p per share against a share price of 367p. 6.15% and it is available in just 9 days. With their track record of increasing the dividend, that represents very good value.
Phoenix Group are paying 26.7p against 649p for a yield of 4.11%. That also goes ex-dividend on 3rd April. A week later Amlin pay out 16.5p against 423.7p for another decent payout of 3.89%. Resolution announced their dividend today at 14.09p against 268p for 5.25%
Spirax-Sarco, the engineering group are paying a normal dividend of 37p plus a special of a quid for a total yield of 5.2% on the 17th April.
Legal & General, Balfour Beatty, Centrica, Intu properties and National Express all offer yields above 3%, going ex-dividend on the 24th April. Looking a little further out, ITV are paying 5.8p by means of a 1.8p normal dividend plus a 4p special dividend, going ex on the 1st May for a yield of 4.5%.
So, the dividend story carries on. There is yield to be had from a whole host of companies in different sectors (and none of these companies could be described as being in trouble), but my dividend of the week is going to be Man group, which many people believe is in trouble. On the 24th April, they go ex-dividend for a whopping 8.26p against a share price of 94p giving a yield of 8.77%. The following extract is taken from the MAN group final results:
"As announced in March 2012, Man’s dividend policy going forward is to pay at least 100% of adjusted management fee earnings per share in each financial year by way of ordinary dividend. In addition, the Group expects to generate significant surplus capital over time, primarily from net performance fee earnings. Available surpluses, after taking into account required capital, potential strategic opportunities and a prudent buffer, will be distributed to shareholders over time, by way of higher dividend payments and/or share repurchases. Whilst the Board continues to consider dividends as the primary method of returning capital to shareholders, it will continue to execute share repurchases when advantageous."
We all know that Man Group has had a tough few years, but is the share price reflecting reality. Funds under management have dropped from $58.4 billion to $57 billion from 2011 to 2012. Not catastrophic.
The market cap is £1.73 billion with net assets of £1.96 billion of which £750 million is in (net) cash. Average analysts forecasts are saying that profits in the current year will be around £130 million followed by around £200 million in 2014 with dividends of 4.35p and 5.72p predicted.
With hefty cost savings on the way this does not look too demanding. I am not going to pretend that I fully understand Man's business, but if the forecast numbers are correct and with the declared dividend of 8.26p already in the bag, they look like good value to me.
