Can First Commonwealth Financial withstand this economic turmoil?

A wave of economic turmoil has washed through the stock market this year, sending investors fleeing for the perceived safety of dependable dividends. Finding the best dividends on offer is tough, but it looks like the payout at First Commonwealth Financial (NYQ:FCF) could be one of them.

Mounting numbers of dividend cuts have put income investors under pressure like never before. Deceptively high yields have turned into traps and the promise of payout growth has vaporised. For those investors who rely on high yielding shares, it's been a miserable time...

The good news is that some stocks look well placed to ride out this chaos. With a checklist of key dividend measures you can be on the path to finding them. Here's a summary of why First Commonwealth Financial scores well...

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1. High (but not excessive) dividend yield

Yield is an important dividend metric because it tells you the percentage of how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share price. That makes it easy to compare dividend payouts right across the market.

High yields are obviously appealing but be careful of excessively high yields (usually above 10%) because they can be a sign of problems. When the market suspects a company may be unable to sustain its dividend, the share price will fall and actually push the yield higher - and this can be a trap. So it pays to be wary of excessive yields.

• First Commonwealth Financial has a dividend yield of 4.64%.

2. Dividend growth

Another important marker for income investors is a track record of dividend growth - and evidence that the growth will continue. Consistent dividend growth can be a pointer to companies that are carefully managing their payout policies - and rewarding their shareholders over time. Rather than aggressively dishing out earnings, dividend growth companies tend to have more modest yields, but are better at sustaining their payouts.

• First Commonwealth Financial has increased its dividend payout 7 times over the past 10 years - and the dividend per share is forecast to grow by 10.00% in the coming year.

3. Dividend safety

Attractively high yields obviously turn heads - but it’s important to know that a dividend is affordable. Dividend Cover (similar to the payout ratio) is a go-to measure of a company's net income over the dividend paid to shareholders. It’s calculated as earnings per share divided by the dividend per share and helps to indicate how sustainable a dividend is.

Dividend cover of less than 1x suggests that the company can’t fund the payout from its current year earnings - and might be relying on other sources of funds to pay it.

• First Commonwealth Financial has dividend cover of 2.05.

Next steps

With these three important rules, you can track down shares that offer a reasonable yield, with a record of growth and safety. On this basis, First Commonwealth Financial could be worth a closer look.

To find out more you might want to take a look at the First Commonwealth Financial StockReport from the award-winning research platform, Stockopedia. StockReports contain a goldmine of information in a single page and can help to inform your investment decisions.

To find more stocks like First Commonwealth Financial, you'll need to equip yourself with professional-grade data and screening tools. This kind of information has traditionally been closely guarded by professional fund managers. But our team of financial analysts have carefully constructed this screen - Stockopedia’s Dividend Stock Ideas - which gives you everything you need. So why not come and take a look?

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