wrote:
Investors are using futures to bet that record Japanese company dividends will grow even faster than analysts estimate as firms heed government calls to boost shareholder returns.
Dividends on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average will contribute 262 points to the index in the 2015 fiscal year and 276 points the year after, according to analyst forecasts compiled by Bloomberg. Futures tracking payouts on the gauge are more bullish, implying shareholders will receive about 11 percent more than analysts foresee in 2015 and 14 percent more in 2016, Singapore-traded contracts showed.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe?s policies to generate inflation and shame cash-hoarding companies into lifting returns are being heard by firms including Fanuc (6954) Corp. and Keyence (6861) Corp. Jefferies Group LLC strategist Sean Darby is telling investors to buy dividend futures on the Nikkei 225 that expire in 12 months and 24 months, betting the government efforts to make companies more attractive to investors will spur higher payouts.
?The market continues to underestimate future dividend payments,? Darby, the Hong Kong-based chief global equity strategist at Jefferies, said in a phone interview. ?Whereas 12 months ago people were shooting in the dark in terms of hope about corporate restructuring, now there is quite a lot of evidence on the ground that it?s occurring.?
Japanese dividends reached a record 3.2 trillion yen ($27.5 billion) in the April-September period, data compiled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. show.
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