The company announced a 21% dividend boost in consolation, which brings the yield on the shares now to about 2.6%.
That value depends in part on the expected dividend yield on the underlying shares.
A-shares is still higher than the yield on bank deposits, making shares look a reasonably safe bet.
The yield on Bank One's shares is twice what depositors receive in the bank's savings accounts.
In some cases the dividends paid on shares, divided by share prices, are even outstripping the yield on bonds issued by the same company.
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And over time, yield returns on stocks that are used to buy up more shares means higher returns over time.
International High Yield Bond shares are currently trading down about 0.3% on the day.
High-Yield Municipal Index shares are currently trading down about 0.9% on the day.
The war chest has become a target for activist hedge fund manager David Einhorn, whose Greenlight Capital owns a slug of Apple shares and has pushed the company to issue preferred shares with a fatter yield than the 2.5% on its common stock.
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Based on a quarterly payout of 46 cents, the shares have a dividend yield of 1.69%.
Based on a quarterly payout of 20 cents, the shares have a dividend yield of 2.71%.
That is clearest in the bond market (those buying German two-year bonds on a yield of zero are assured of exactly that return) but it applies to shares as well.
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Shares trade at a 6.3% earnings yield versus 4.5% on German ten-year debt.
The shares are down 30% from their recent highs and currently yield 6.8% based on the latest payout, but like most European countries, its dividend varies year-to-year, though it is consistently higher than American oil companies.
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