Is General Electric (GE) the next major company to cut its dividend after holding it flat for a period of time? Last year, in a public statement GE CEO Jeff Immelt said that GE would hold its dividend flat through 2009. Recently, there has been mounting pressure on the company that may make that promise difficult to keep.
Last month, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) lowered its outlook on General Electric’s debt ratings to “negative”. S&P said there was at least a one-in-three chance it would cut GE’s grade from triple-A within the next two years. A rating cut would raise the company’s borrowing costs, diminishing a key advantage GE Capital has had over its competitors.
In a further tightening of the noose, Sterne Agee analyst Nick Heymann said the company likely faces a serious decision - sustain the dividend or the AAA rating. Heymann thought a rating change would not come until the first-quarter or second-quarter financial results are released in April and July, respectively.
Only a precious few companies still carry the AAA debt rating. They include Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A), Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Pfizer Inc. (PFE).
For those of us who include dividends from GE stock in our retirement plan, we may want to reexamine our retirement vision.
Disclosure: Long GE, JNJ, PFE.
(Photo: Steve Woods)
Related Articles:
GE: Keep Your Dividend or AAA Debt Rating, But Not Both
Posted by D4L | Friday, January 09, 2009 | commentary | 2 comments »________________________________________________________________
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
~
Popular Posts Last 30 Days
-
As a relatively new blogger, the one thing that has stood out in my mind is the number of Canadian bloggers in the areas that I am most inte...
-
Dividends and diversification -- those two things can help you achieve a comfortable retirement when combined with the income you will recei...
-
The best dividend stocks have one thing in common: resiliency. They can continue increasing their dividends even in the harshest economic en...
-
Investors wanting to enjoy steady and consistent income should consider dividend aristocrats. In fact, even in these chaotic times, dividend...
-
A good dividend stock has more than a high yield. Dividends need to be supported by cash flow, and cash flow depends on the long-term streng...
-
It's hard to beat a sustainable, high-yield dividend paired with a beaten-down valuation. The best dividend stocks offer high yields and...
-
Higher dividend yields often imply that the underlying company paying the dividend has a higher risk profile. However, that's not always...
-
When hunting for discounted investments, one excellent starting point is to look for businesses with dividend yields trading above their fiv...
-
Strange but true: seniors fear death less than running out of money in retirement. And unfortunately, even retirees who have built a nest eg...
-
BDCs can be excellent investment options for those seeking high returns, particularly when acquired at favorable valuations and supported by...
It looks like GE may have to choose between the AAA rating or the dividend.
How prescient of you, Mark!