Investing for income – 3 ways to check if a dividend's sustainable

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What makes a sustainable dividend when researching stocks? Here’s our three-point dividend checklist.

This article isn’t personal advice. If you’re not sure whether an investment is right for you please seek advice. If you choose to invest the value of your investment will rise and fall, so you could get back less than you put in.

28 June 2023

Dividends can be a great way for companies to return profits to shareholders. For investors, they can be a powerful tool for growing your wealth.

But as we often say, no dividends are guaranteed. The real challenge is finding companies that can afford to keep paying a healthy dividend yield.

When looking at whether a company can afford to keep paying its dividend, there are three key checks we like to use – profits, cash, and history.

This article isn’t personal advice. If you’re not sure an investment is right for you, seek advice. Investments and any income they produce will rise and fall in value, so you could get back less than you invest.

We're looking at how much of a company's profits, or cash, it's paying out as a dividend – often referred to as 'dividend cover'. A dividend