Dividends: A Review Of Historical Returns – Heartland Advisors

Dividends: A Review Of Historical Returns by Heartland Advisors

H/T Dataroma

Summary

• Dividend-paying equities have historically provided higher cumulative returns with lower levels of volatility versus non-dividend paying equities over long-term holding periods.
• Dividend payers have outperformed non-dividend payers during moderate and severe market corrections, but have underperformed in sharp market recoveries.
• These findings are generally more pronounced for progressively higher levels of dividend yield.
• Size of dividend yield should not be the sole investment consideration.

"The prime purpose of a business corporation is to pay dividends regularly and, presumably, to increase the rate as time goes on." -- Benjamin Graham, Security Analysis, 1934

Dividends: A Review Of Historical Returns - Introduction

Dividends are an important form of return to equity investors, and have...