By Camila Santellen
Dividend stocks often get touted as some of the most attractive securities to hold due to their ability to provide stability in economic uncertainty and times of market volatility via periodical payouts and capital appreciation. However, something many newbies to this security type don’t know is that timing is a vital factor to consider when one decides to invest in them. For example, such as when an individual does not grasp what is an ex-dividend date? When it comes up, he could wind up buying shares in a company after it and get left out of an expected payout. That's just the tip of the iceberg concerning the role timing has in dividend investing.
Below, we quickly dive into the nitty-gritty of how one should go about trading dividend stocks. Learning more on this topic will undoubtedly benefit all dividend investors en route to maximizing returns and minimizing risks. Hence, let's get to it.
Identifying the right time to buy dividend stocks
For newcomers to the investment sphere, identifying when to purchase dividend stocks can get seen as challenging as there are various factors one should consider that may not be so apparent to most newbies. Here, the top three get presented.
Analyzing company financials and market trends
For many, this is the most essential part of discovering the correct purchase date. Metrics traders should check when evaluating the quality of a dividend-paying stock are yield, free cash flow, payout ratio, and earnings per share. Market trends are pivotal because they supply insights into the potential risks that can affect an entity’s performance and broader market conditions.
Identifying undervalued stocks
To spot unheralded worthwhile securities, an investor should begin performing an in-depth analysis of the financial well-being of a company whose share’s he is planning to acquire. That starts with checking many of the stuff outlined above, then moving into looking at market sentiment and searching for value-inducing catalysts. These can be positive changes in management or the launching of new products.
Considering dividend history
By looking at a company’s past, investors can get a sense of how consistent and reliable its dividend payments are, and this can tell if there is a trend for potential dividend growth in the future. Entities that have increased their payouts over time with a decent rate of regularity show an ability to generate quality cash flows and are more than stable. That said, it is paramount to remember that past performances are not indicative of future outcomes in most cases. That is the logic behind the gambler’s fallacy.
Knowing when to sell dividend stocks
Like other securities, dividend stocks are also not immune to price fluctuations. And while the companies that issue them get seen as stable, they can experience downturns like any other business. Consequently, investors should have a decent grasp of when it may be time to offload some of the dividend stocks they have in their portfolios.
Identifying warning signs of a declining company
Combining debt-to-equity and price-to-earnings ratios, returns on equity, and free cash flow numbers is the quickest way to see red flags. Increasing debt levels, declining revenues, and a company’s market share are never good. So, everyone should be wary of that and monitor quarterly earning reports, media outlets for industry news, and reading all sector press releases. Controversies and negative rumors surrounding a business can negatively affect it, even if they are not necessarily true, and can be warning signs of short-term price drops, so that should always get kept in mind.
Knowing when to take profits
Sometimes, as an investor, a person should know when it is time to cut and run, lock in their gains, and avoid potential losses. The prices of stocks can often display a volatile nature, and despite what many think, this can also be the case with dividend ones. It is not out of the realm of possibility that an established brand suddenly undergoes financial difficulties originating from ill-advised management decisions or industry changes, leading it to suspend or altogether cut its dividend policies. Consequently, that can leave investors without their predicted ROIs, and the chances of that happening are very real. So, it is sometimes wise to take what one has gained, leaving potential future earnings out of the equation out of wariness to not lose attained funds.
Rebalancing your portfolio
Rebalancing is a periodical necessity to manage risk or benefit from market trends. When it comes to selling dividend stocks, if one does so too soon, one may miss out on capital appreciation and the potential for dividend increases. Conversely, holding too long to declining dividend stocks may incur significant losses for investors. Therefore, tracking their companies’ performance is crucial in making informed decisions on when to rebalance one’s portfolio and get rid of hazardous shares.
Strategies for timing dividend stock buys and sells
Even though some traders don’t think that common investment tactics usually apply to dividend stocks, that is not entirely accurate. Nevertheless, distinct ones linked to them do exist.
Dividend capture
Without question, the most famous dividend-related strategy out there is the popularly titled capture one, which entails getting dividend-paying shares before their ex-dividend date and on-loading them on someone else after snagging their incoming payout. The term capture here derives from the captured dividend payout. After it gets taken, a subsequent release of these stocks follows.
Dividend reinvestment plans
In the economic sphere, these plans have gotten better established under their acronym DRIPs, and they supply automatic reinvestment of dividend payouts at a discounted price into more shares. In terms of timing, DRIPs can aid traders in profiting from market corrections or drops by saving them time via their automatically reinvesting capabilities, allowing them to take advantage of getting the same stocks at potentially lower prices. DRIPs standardly get mentioned when retirement planning gets discussed by industry professionals.
Dollar-cost averaging
Dollar-cost averaging is investing a defined sum (fixed) of funds at pre-set intervals over a specific, long-term period. The timing element here lies in the regularity of this practice, meaning its periodic nature. That can help average out market volatility significantly, improving returns.
The role of patience and discipline in dividend investing
Patience is something that no one should be without when trading securities. Usually, this activity requires playing a long game if a person wants to reap profits from the market and get the most bang for their buck. That particularly holds for dividend investing, as the essence of it is in having a long-term perspective about forming a steady passive income stream, getting compounding returns, whose rate will hopefully grow over time.
Furthermore, investing demands sticking through dire straits and avoiding impulsive, reactive behavior, which requires discipline. In short, the main two character traits to stay out of the red consistently one must have are emotional stability and a big-picture focus.
Avoiding emotional decision-making
For most, the best course of action is having a plan and sticking to it. Do not react overly dramatically to market fluctuations, and do not try to time the market. Recognize that emotional decisions get based on greed, fear, and insecurity. And know that the herd mentality is dangerous as everyone should always conduct their research so they know that the data they are utilizing in making their decisions are valid. Many people panic and go with the crowd, which is often not the wisest approach because others may have also based their market moves on panic.
Having a long-term mindset
Famous investors that advocate for a long-haul attitude regarding securities trading include John Templeton, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch, and Warrant Buffet. The latter is likely the most renowned entity developer of this bunch, and he has gotten quoted as saying that his favorite holding period is forever, citing that people should not look to invest in stocks but in businesses.
The extended approach allows for compounding and aids companies in weathering short-term market volatility. It enables the power of time diversification to minimize risk.
To wrap dup
Though it may seem like timing when to sell and buy dividend-paying stocks only warrants scanning companies' financial reports/records and looking at the overall market, it requires much more effort than that. Having discipline and patience is a must. The same goes for picking the right strategy to implement and knowing how to sus-out the right moments to purchase or off-load held shares. Setting goals that ensure that one is on track to hit investment milestones is also paramount, and only through implementing everything stated in this article will investor substantially improve their chances of experiencing success in dividend-stock trading.