The U.S. stock market had a mixed record for dividends in August 2022. Month over month, dividend increases were up and dividend cuts were down. But year-over-year, the opposite story is true, pointing to downward development for the stock market.

The following chart shows the monthly increases and decreases for dividends reported by Standard and Poor for each month from January 2004 through August 2022.

Here's August 2022's dividend metadata:

• There were 3,728 U.S. firms declaring dividends in August 2022. That's an increase of 277 from July 2022's total, but a decrease of 1,532 was recorded in August 2021.
• A total of 74 U.S. firms declared they would pay a special (or extra) dividend in August 2022, up by 32 from July 2022, and also up by 19 with respect to August 2021.
• Standard and Poor counted 149 U.S. firms announcing they would increase dividends during August 2022, an increase of 4 over July 2022. Unfortunately, that's a decrease of 20 from August 2021's level.
• 12 companies cut their dividends in August 2022, falling by 23 from what July 2022 saw. Compared to a year earlier, however, we find August 2022's total come in five higher than it did in August 2021.
• There were Zero U.S. firms suspending (or omitting paying) their dividends in August 2022, matching the market's nil totals for both the previous month and the same month a year ago.

Here's what we know of the firms that announced dividend cuts during August 2022 from our sampling of dividend declarations:

• Apollo Investment (Nasdaq: AINV)
• Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK)
• DiamondRock Hospitality (REIT-Hotel) (NYSE: DRH)
• Artisan Partners Asset Management (NYSE: APAM)
• Sturm Ruger (NYSE: RGR)
• Cedar Fair Entertainment (Amusement Parks) (NYSE: FUN)
• Mercury General (NYSE: MCY)
• Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE: GNK)
• Mativ Holdings (NYSE: MATV)
• TPG Inc. (Nasdaq: TPG)
• Newtek Business Services (Nasdaq: NEWT)

In terms of affected industries, the list is widely dispersed, though financial services account for 4 of the 11 firms in our sample. Two of these firms pay variable dividends, however, so that's not necessarily anything out of the ordinary. What we find surprising is the lack of monthly dividend payers from the oil and gas sector, where we would have anticipated more of these firms cutting their dividends as oil prices have fallen from their highs in recent months.
 

References

Standard and Poor. S&P Market Attributes Web File. [Excel Spreadsheet]. Accessed 1 September 2022.

MarketBeat. Recent Dividend Cuts. [Online Database]. Accessed 31 August 2022.

Seeking Alpha. Dividend-Stocks News. [Online Database]. Accessed 31 August 2022.

Wall Street Journal. Dividend Declarations. [Online Database]. Accessed 1 September 2022.

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