Well, almost.
S&P Index Service’s Dividend Record actually says Q4 08 was the worst quarter for dividends since 1956. Which is when records began.
Dividend Record tracks 7,000 firms, so it’s pretty comprehensive. Emphasis ours (from S&P):
“It was the worst quarter for dividends since we started keeping dividend records in 1956,” says Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at Standard & Poor’s. “Due to the timing of the cuts many issues actually paid in the fourth quarter, so the full impact of the cuts won’t be felt until the first quarter of 2009. Dividend increases continued to fall, and given the heightened uncertainty and change in spending habits, companies will be wary of any increases.”
“Yields for paying issues have doubled over the past two years to 7.28% in 2008,” continues Silverblatt. “As a result, investors need to be careful of overly generous yields, which are due mostly to depressed stocks. It is a different risk-reward trade off than dividend investors are typically used to.”
The average yield for the S&P 500 from Dec 1936 to March 2008 was 3.828 per cent, according to S&P.
