Many companies issue monthly dividends with the intention of maximizing shareholder value. However, like any investment, investing in monthly dividend stocks contains risks. Many of these risks can be anticipated if an investor does their due diligence of a company’s business.
Of course, investors need to look at a company’s history of paying monthly dividends. But past dividend performance does not mean that a company is a sustainable dividend stock. To get a sense of this, investors should look at a company’s financial statements including their balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and key performance and profitability ratios. These documents will provide information on how much cash a business is generating and how that cash is being deployed.
In addition to making sure that a company has a reliable history of paying dividends, investors need to be aware of any cuts in monthly dividends. Although a company may have many reasons for cutting their dividend, it may mean that the company’s performance is slowing to a point where a monthly dividend may eventually become unsustainable. Sometimes, the company may simply need to change to a quarterly or annual dividend schedule. However, in the worst case scenario, the company may make the decision to stop issuing a dividend altogether.