Evening star., 1933-02-18
CUTS IN DIVIDENDS
HAVE BEEN SHARP
Only 81 Per Cent of Listed
Stocks Continue to Yield
Returns.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK, February ia three
year steady whiting down Of dividend
rates on listed stocks, together with the
complete suspension of payments by
scores Of corporations, has made a
striking change in the number and the
amounts Of payments now being made
compared with those regularly dis
burSed in 1929.
OF over 900 listed stocks regularly
quoted on the New York Stock Ex-
change, only about 81 per cent are now
on q dividend basis. This does not tell
the whole story, for many issues have
had their rates cut in two, others are
only one-third the amount at which
they stood before the depression.
Extent OF Reductions.
For instance, there are about 35
stocks today whose dividends are less
than l per cent Frequently the rates
are 40 and go cents share. There
are SO on which the rate is 81 share.
including General Motors common,
whose dividend was maintained at this
figure last week, as well as two other
automobile companies, Chrysler and
Nash. Then there are nearly 10 stocks
whose dividends range from / to 2 per
cent and include prominent issues like
American Sugar common, Borden,
Continental Can, du Pont, Freeport
Texas, General Foods, National Dairy
Products, Southern California Edison
and Texas Gulf Sulphur. There are
Al stocks whose dividends range from
2 to per cent, as Chesapeake Ohio
and Woolworth, and A on which the
rates are from to per cent. In
nrn 14rfn ~
bacco, Consolidated Gas, Eastman Ko-
dak, Liggett & Myers, Norfolk & West
ern preferred, Union Pacific preferred,
Atchison preferred, Peoples Gas, and
Public Service of New Jersey preferred.
majority of the issues receiving up
10 per cent are common stocks. Above
5 per cent the number of Junior shares
on dividend basis decreases and these
dividend payers are mainly from the
preferred stock class. There are SO
stocks with dividends of per cent, of
which considerable number are Of the
preferred class, but still including the
common shares of Union Pacific, In
ternational Business Machines, Allied
Chemical and Detroit Edison.
Many of the public utility holding
company stocks, such as Columbia Gas
& Electric and Commonwealth &
southern, carry 6 per cent rate on
their preferred issues In contrast with
per cent dividend on the old line
industrial preferred issues. They are
an important element in the per cent
dividend classification.
Other Classifications.
The industrial preferreds constitute
large portion of the 48 stocks In the
2 per cent dividend class. This group
has been gradually dwindling in the
last year, since preferred stocks like
American Locomotive, American Car Sk
Foundry, Bethlehem Steel, Studebaker
and United States Steel have been re-
moved from it. There are few common
stocks In the per cent list. a conspicu-
GUS member being Coca Cola.
Going into the 8 and per cent
dividend claSsifications we find the list
shrinking further, with Norfolk g. West
ern common In the per cent class and
American Telephone & Telegraph and
Homestake Mining the two outstand-
ing and rather lonely members of the
8 per cent dividend list. There are
several public utility and per cent
stocks, such as American Power & Light
and Electric Power & Light, whose diyi-
dends late last year were reduced by
half In most cases where there has
been q poor earning record, the pre-
ferred dividends have been entirely
omitted rather than reduced.
Copyright, 1933)