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Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 3/8/24, Spire Inc (Symbol: SR), Viatris Inc (Symbol: VTRS), and UnitedHealth Group Inc (Symbol: UNH) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. Spire Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.755 on 4/2/24, Viatris Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.12 on 3/18/24, and UnitedHealth Group Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $1.88 on 3/19/24. As a percentage of SR's recent stock price of $60.74, this dividend works out to approximately 1.24%, so look for shares of Spire Inc to trade 1.24% lower — all else being equal — when SR shares open for trading on 3/8/24. Similarly, investors should look for VTRS to open 0.98% lower in price and for UNH to open 0.40% lower, all else being equal.

Below are dividend history charts for SR, VTRS, and UNH, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.

Spire Inc (Symbol: SR):

Viatris Inc (Symbol: VTRS):

UnitedHealth Group Inc (Symbol: UNH):

In general, dividends are not always predictable, following the ups and downs of company profits over time. Therefore, a good first due diligence step in forming an expectation of annual yield going forward, is looking at the history above, for a sense of stability over time. This can help in judging whether the most recent dividends from these companies are likely to continue. If they do continue, the current estimated yields on annualized basis would be 4.97% for Spire Inc, 3.91% for Viatris Inc, and 1.59% for UnitedHealth Group Inc.

In Wednesday trading, Spire Inc shares are currently down about 0.3%, Viatris Inc shares are off about 0.7%, and UnitedHealth Group Inc shares are down about 1.8% on the day.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.