5 Stocks With Upcoming Special Dividends Over the Next Month

According to the Upcoming Special Dividends Screen, a Premium feature of GuruFocus, five stocks that are paying a lump-sum dividend over the next month are American Financial Group Inc. (

AFG, Financial), CBM Bancorp Inc. (CBMB, Financial), PJT Partners Inc. (PJT, Financial), Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY, Financial) and Communications Systems Inc. (JCS, Financial).

A special dividend occurs when a company pays cash to shareholders outside of the normal distribution schedule. The lump-sum dividend, which is usually larger than the regular payment, stems from specific events like asset sales, exceptional company earnings, spinoffs or other windfall events.

American Financial Group

American Financial Group (

AFG, Financial) announced on Sept. 14 that its board of directors declared a $4 special dividend payable on Oct. 5 with a record date of Sept. 28. The lump-sum dividend adds to the company’s prior dividends paid in July; the company additionally increased its regular dividend to 56 cents starting in October.

The co-CEOs of the Cincinnati-based insurance company said the special dividend “reflects the company’s strong financial position” and management’s confidence in its future.

GuruFocus ranks the Cincinnati-based insurance company’s financial strength 5 out of 10 on the back of a high Piotroski F-score of 7 despite interest coverage and debt ratios outperforming just over half of global competitors.

Gurus with holdings in American Financial Group include

Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio)’s Point72 Asset Management, Pioneer Investments and
Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio)’s Gotham Asset Management.

CBM Bancorp

CBM Bancorp (

CBMB, Financial) announced on Sept. 15 that its board of directors declared a 50-cent special dividend payable on Oct. 8 with a record date of Sept. 28.

According to GuruFocus, the Baltimore-based bank’s cash-to-debt and debt-to-equity ratios outperform more than 83% of global competitors, suggesting good financial strength.

Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)’ Renaissance Technologies has a holding in CBM Bancorp.

PJT Partners

PJT Partners (

PJT, Financial) announced in July that its board of directors declared a $3 special dividend payable on Oct. 18 with a record date of Oct. 4.

The New York-based company engages primarily in advisory business services. GuruFocus ranks the company’s financial strength 4 out of 10 on the back of debt-to-equity ratios underperforming more than 78% of global competitors.

Despite high leverage ratios, the company also has a high Piotroski F-score of 7 and a strong Altman Z-score of 7.65.

Weyerhaeuser

Weyerhaeuser announced on Wednesday that its board of directors declared a 50-cent special dividend payable on Oct. 19 with a record date of Oct. 5.

The Seattle-based forest product real estate investment trust announced its lump-sum dividend as part of the company’s new share repurchase program following “record” first-half cash flow generation according to CEO Devin Stockfish. GuruFocus ranks Weyerhaeuser’s financial strength 5 out of 10 on the back of debt ratios outperforming just over 60% of global competitors.

Despite high leverage, Weyerhaeuser has a high Piotroski F-score of 8 and a strong Altman Z-score of 3.66.

Communications Systems

Communications Systems announced on Sept. 13 that its board of directors declared a $3.50 special dividend payable on Oct. 15 with a record date of Sept. 30. The company’s lump-sum dividend stems from Communications Systems’ existing cash on hand and the net proceeds from the sale of its Transition Networks and Net2Edge businesses to Lantronix Inc.

GuruFocus ranks the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based telecom hardware company’s financial strength 7 out of 10: Even though the company has a low Piotroski F-score of 3, positive investing signs include a strong Altman Z-score of 8.25 and leverage ratios that outperform more than 87% of global competitors.