Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 8/4/15, Federal Signal Corp. (NYSE: FSS), MarkWest Energy Partners LP (NYSE: MWE), and Williams Partners LP (NYSE: WPZ) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. Federal Signal Corp. will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.06 on 8/27/15, MarkWest Energy Partners LP will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.92 on 8/14/15, and Williams Partners LP will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.85 on 8/13/15.
As a percentage of FSS's recent stock price of $15.12, this dividend works out to approximately 0.40%, so look for shares of Federal Signal Corp. to trade 0.40% lower — all else being equal — when FSS shares open for trading on 8/4/15. Similarly, investors should look for MWE to open 1.42% lower in price and for WPZ to open 1.80% lower, all else being equal.
Below are dividend history charts for FSS, MWE, and WPZ, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.
Federal Signal Corp. (NYSE: FSS):
In general, dividends are not always predictable, following the ups and downs of company profits over time. Therefore, a good first due diligence step in forming an expectation of annual yield going forward, is looking at the history above, for a sense of stability over time. This can help in judging whether the most recent dividends from these companies are likely to continue. If they do continue, the current estimated yields on annualized basis would be 1.59% for Federal Signal Corp., 5.67% for MarkWest Energy Partners LP, and 7.20% for Williams Partners LP. In general, most investors consider any yield over 7% to be high yield stocks.
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In Friday trading, Federal Signal Corp. shares are currently up about 0.1%, MarkWest Energy Partners LP shares are up about 0.3%, and Williams Partners LP shares are off about 0.2% on the day.
