Own Comcast by Oct. 7 to Qualify for Its Next Dividend (Yielding Over 6%). Here’s How Many Shares You’d Need for $5,352.60 in Yearly Dividends.
Longtime shareholders of Comcast (CMCSA -0.28%) haven’t had much of a reason to celebrate over the last five years. The stock price of the cable, communications, and entertainment giant has fallen 58% during that time.
Of course, that’s a little bit misleading. Five years ago was the peak of the company’s pandemic-era success, when its TV and streaming services like Peacock and NBC and its Xfinity home internet service were seeing record demand from stay-at-home consumers.
Today’s Change
(-0.28%) $-0.06
Current Price
$21.70
Key Data Points
Market Cap
Day’s Range
$21.55 – $21.96
52wk Range
$21.28 – $32.85
Volume
12.2K
Avg Vol
29.4M
Gross Margin
56.77%
Dividend Yield
5.99%
But it’s not all bad news. Although Comcast shares trade at a 12-year low, its dividend yield is now at an all-time high of more than 6%!
For dividend investors, especially those nearing retirement, this looks like a golden opportunity to pick up a juicy yield on the cheap. The only question is, how cheap?
Here’s how many shares of Comcast stock you’d need to buy to get $5,352.60 in annual dividends.
Why $5,352.60?
Everyone’s financial situation is different; how much income you need to derive from dividend stocks will vary according to your portfolio and lifestyle, so $5,352.60 may not be the right number for you.
But $5,352 is the approximate median monthly full-time wage in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So, if your portfolio consisted of 12 dividend-paying investments that each paid out $5,352/year, they would provide the same amount of income as the median full-time job ($64,224/year).
Image source: Getty Images.
Since Comcast’s per-share dividend of $0.33/quarter amounts to $1.32/year, you would need 4,055 shares to yield exactly $5,352.60 in the current year. Of course, this could go up in future years if the dividend is raised … or down if the dividend is cut.
At Comcast’s current stock price of $21.52/share, 4,055 shares would cost you $87,263.60. That’s much more than most people just have lying around! But by gradually investing over time — and by reinvesting dividends during the preretirement years — building up a substantial position in a dividend-paying stock like Comcast can provide a steady stream of income in retirement.
