Dividend investing, explained
Evergreen guides to dividend metrics, methodology, and how to read a dividend safely.
Getting started
Does the Share Price Really Drop by the Dividend?
Theory says a share falls by its dividend on the ex-date. Across 31,577 ex-dates the median fall is 0.89 of it, and on one ex-date in four the price went up.
How to Export Your Transaction History from DeGiro
Export your full DeGiro transaction history as a CSV, with the two things that catch people out: the report sitting next to the right one, and the date range.
A Beginner's Guide to Dividend Investing in Europe
How dividends work, what makes European payers different, and how to spot a durable dividend, with real examples.
Dividend safety & quality
Does a Frozen Dividend Mean a Cut Is Coming?
A freeze and a cut look identical in a growth streak and are not the same warning. We measured 141 long-record companies to see how far apart they really are.
Are REIT Dividends Less Safe, or Just Measured Differently?
REITs score a median 58 on our Dividend Health Score against 76 for everything else. We tested whether that gap is a scoring artefact. It is not.
Will This Dividend Hold? A Five-Step Check
Will this dividend hold? Five checks that answer it, in the order the evidence arrives, from cash coverage through the payout ratio to the payment record.
Payout Ratio Over 100%: Doomed, or a False Alarm?
A payout ratio above 100% means a company paid out more than it earned. Sometimes that signals a cut. Often it signals an accounting charge. Here is how to tell.
What Is a Dividend Safety Score, and How Is It Calculated?
A dividend safety score turns payout coverage, balance-sheet strength, and track record into one number. Here is how the DividendAtlas Dividend Health Score is built, and why it carries a confidence level.
Is a High Dividend Yield Safe, or a Yield Trap?
A 7% yield can be a bargain or a warning. Here is how to tell whether a high dividend yield is safe, using payout coverage, the balance sheet, and a dividend safety score.
7 Warning Signs a Dividend Is About to Be Cut
How to tell if a dividend will be cut before it happens. Seven warning signs ranked by lead time, from cash flow coverage to leverage, so you can act on the early signals rather than the late ones.
Why Dividend Quality Beats Yield (and how we score it)
A high yield can hide a fragile payout. Here is how to judge dividend quality, and how the DividendAtlas Health Score does it for you.
Metrics & methodology
How to Check a Dividend Figure Before You Rely on It
One company on our own site shows dividend growth of 15.51% a year and a decline of 14.75% a year. Five questions that tell you which dividend figures to trust.
How Long After the Ex-Date Do You Actually Get Paid?
The rule of thumb says about two weeks. Across 52,000 dividends the median really is 15 days, and almost nowhere actually pays at 15 days. Paris takes 2, London 29.
Why Some Stocks Have No Dividend Safety Score
Cardinal Health has a 42-year payment record and no Dividend Health Score at all. Here is what produces a blank, and why we would rather publish nothing.
Why Dividend Growth Figures Disagree Between Sites
Cognex has grown its dividend 7.6% a year for five years, or shrunk it 31.9%. Both are defensible. Four decisions explain almost every disagreement.
Interim and Final: How European Dividends Actually Pay
97% of US companies pay four times a year. 79% of European ones pay once or twice. Here is what interim and final mean, and why the two payments differ in size.
Free Cash Flow vs Earnings Payout Ratio: Which Predicts a Dividend Cut
The earnings payout ratio is the one everyone quotes, but the free cash flow payout ratio is the one that predicts dividend cuts. Here is why they diverge, with a worked example.
Strategy & income
Do Monthly Dividends Compound Faster Than Quarterly?
Monthly payers are said to compound faster. At a 5% yield the advantage is 2.2 basis points a year, or 43 EUR on 10,000 held for a decade. The cost is larger.
Building a Dividend Income: The Decisions in Order
Five decisions build a dividend income, and most people take them in the wrong order. What each one actually costs, measured rather than asserted.
When Does Dividend Income Actually Arrive?
European dividend cash is far lumpier than American. May carries 29.9% of it and January 1.3%, a 23-fold swing. Here is what that does to an income plan.
How Much Do You Need Invested to Live on Dividends?
At the median yield of a well-covered European payer, every 1,000 euros of annual dividend income needs about 29,600 euros of capital. Here is the arithmetic.
Dividend Growth vs High Yield: When the Grower Wins
A high starting yield pays more now, but a fast-growing dividend eventually overtakes it. Here is the crossover math, including the point most articles miss, so you can choose the right one for your horizon.