thats why you check the div payout for a few years back....to see the div trend...do they pay monthly...quarterly....is it a one time div....there are some stocks that pay a div yearly or at 6 months.
Take a look at CIM (chimera investment corp )
I have owned this stock for quite a few years. they have paid a special dividend ( couple of times) not too long ago...check the last 3 years of divs....you will see the trend of how much they pay, and WHEN they pay. you should easily be able to see which was the "special" div they paid out, and that they pay a quarterly div.
CXW pays a quarterly div...right now it equates to a 13.7% yield...quite a nice find there. I will add it to my watch list and do some DD on it. another thing to check...is where the current SP is in the last year...the summary page shows you the 52 week high/low for any given stock...and you can match that to the graph for the appropriate time frame by selecting a week...month...year...which ever you want to see.
gives you a bit more info to DD...is the stock at the bottom...why...is it at the top...maybe it's not a good time to buy...maybe you find some info that helps you understand why its low or high...merger...buyout...expansion...signed a big contract...maybe they are going bust...all things to research.
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