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Consecutive Periods of Uninterrupted Dividend Payout

The ConsecutivePeriodOfUninterruptedDividendPayout function is designed to help dividend-focused investors quickly determine how many consecutive periods (quarters or years) a stock has remained consistent in paying out dividends. By analyzing a stock’s dividend payment history, you can assess reliability, detect patterns, and compare across multiple dividend-paying stocks—all directly within Excel using MarketXLS.

Why Use This Function?

  • Quickly identify a reliable dividend stock’s streak of uninterrupted payments.
  • Make better decisions on potential dividend income stability and reliability.
  • Compare dividend consistency among different symbols to balance your portfolio.
  • Verify if a company has paused or cut its dividends recently.
  • Avoid deep manual checks by leveraging real-time or up-to-date dividend history data from MarketXLS.

Real-World Scenarios Where This Function Shines:

  • Dividend Growth Investing: Spot companies growing or holding dividends steadily.
  • Retirement Planning: Evaluate stable dividend streams for retirement income.
  • Dividend Reinvestment (DRIP) Strategies: Ensure reinvestments come from a consistent payout track record.
  • Long-Term Income Holders: Track longtime dividend aristocrats or challengers.

How to Use in Excel

Simply type the function into an Excel cell as shown below. MarketXLS handles the underlying data retrieval for you.

=ConsecutivePeriodOfUninterruptedDividendPayout(Symbol, periods)
  1. In any blank cell, type “=” followed by “ConsecutivePeriodOfUninterruptedDividendPayout”.
  2. Provide the stock’s ticker symbol, enclosed in quotes (or reference another cell containing the symbol).
  3. Provide the number of periods you want to look back for consistent dividend payouts (e.g., “5y” for five years, “8q” for eight quarters).
  4. Press Enter to instantly see the number of consecutive periods for which the stock has maintained a positive dividend payout.

Parameters Explained

Parameter Description Example Values Notes
Symbol The ticker symbol of the dividend-paying stock. "AAPL", "MSFT" Must be a valid stock ticker. If invalid or missing, function returns "NA".
periods The number and type of periods to analyze. Must end in 'y' for years or 'q' for quarters. "5y", "10y", "4q" A “y” suffix checks annual data (years), and a “q” suffix checks quarterly data.

• Passing a shorter range (e.g., "1y") may indicate only a few dividend payment data points.
• Passing a larger range (e.g., "10y") will check for interruptions within a longer historical span.

Example Usage

Basic Examples

  1. Checking 3 Years of Dividend Consistency
    =ConsecutivePeriodOfUninterruptedDividendPayout("AAPL","3y")
    This will show how many of the last three annual periods had uninterrupted positive dividend payouts for Apple.

  2. Checking 4 Quarters of Dividend Consistency
    =ConsecutivePeriodOfUninterruptedDividendPayout("MSFT","4q")
    Returns the number of quarters (out of the last four) that Microsoft paid a dividend without skipping or reducing payment to zero.

  3. Referencing Cells for Input
    Suppose cell A1 has "AAPL" and cell A2 has "5y". Then:
    =ConsecutivePeriodOfUninterruptedDividendPayout(A1, A2)
    This helps automate calculations and easily change parameters.

Advanced Scenarios

  1. Comparing Multiple Stocks
    By placing different ticker symbols in separate rows (e.g., "AAPL", "XOM", "T"), you can set up a quick comparison for consecutive dividend payouts across a group of dividend-focused companies.

  2. Combining with Other Excel Functions
    Use IF statements or conditional formatting to highlight any stocks dropping below a certain streak threshold. For example:
    =IF(ConsecutivePeriodOfUninterruptedDividendPayout("KO","5y")<5, "Dividend Cut Risk", "Stable Dividend")

  3. Portfolio-Level Checks
    For multiple stocks listed in a portfolio sheet, you can drag the formula down to automatically calculate each stock’s dividend streak. This provides a quick snapshot of your portfolio’s overall dividend stability.

Common Questions and Troubleshooting

  1. Why Do I Get “NA”?

    • Invalid Symbol: Make sure the ticker is correct and publicly traded in the US market.
    • License Issues: Check if your MarketXLS license is valid.
    • Incorrect Period Parameter: Ensure you used ‘y’ for years or ‘q’ for quarters at the end of your period argument (e.g., "5y", not just "5").
  2. How Are Consecutive Dividends Measured?

    • The function checks each period’s positive dividend payout (DPS) data. If the dividend in a period is zero or missing, the streak ends.
  3. Edge Cases

    • Passing “1y” or “1q” might result in 1 (if that single period had a non-zero dividend) or 0 if no dividend was paid.
    • Stocks that only recently started paying dividends could return a short streak.
    • If your date range is too large (e.g., "20y") for a newer stock, fewer actual data points may be available, but the function will return the correct uninterrupted streak from the data that exists.

Remember:

  • This function is especially useful for quick data-driven decisions on dividend reliability.
  • Double-check your Symbol and periods for accuracy.
  • Combine with other MarketXLS functions for advanced dividend analysis or to build robust trading and investing dashboards.