How does Spectrum Brands' dividend payout ratio compare to its historical levels and to those of its industry peers?
Answer
The press release you quoted tells us that Spectrum Brands Holdings (NYSE: SPB) has just announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.47 per share, payable on September 23 2025 to shareholders of record as of August 26 2025.
What the release does not include is any information about the company’s earnings, cash flow, or the dividend‑payout ratio (i.e., the proportion of earnings that are being returned to shareholders as dividends). Because the payout ratio is calculated as:
[
\text{Dividend Payout Ratio} = \frac{\text{Dividends per Share (or Total Dividends)}}{\text{Earnings per Share (or Net Income)}} \times 100\%
]
we need two pieces of data that are missing from the announcement:
- Earnings per share (EPS) or net income for the most recent quarter (or the trailing twelve‑month period).
- Historical EPS or net‑income figures for prior periods, to see how the ratio has moved over time.
Likewise, to benchmark Spectrum Brands against its industry peers, we would need:
- The payout ratios of comparable “home‑essentials” or consumer‑products companies (e.g., Newell Brands, Clorox, Procter & Gamble, etc.) for the same fiscal period.
- An understanding of the typical range for the sector (some consumer‑goods firms run payout ratios of 30‑60 %, while capital‑intensive manufacturers may be lower, around 20‑40 %).
What a full analysis would look like (if the missing data were available)
| Period | Net Income (US$ mm) | Shares Outstanding (mm) | EPS (US$) | Quarterly Dividend per Share | Annualized Dividend per Share | Dividend Payout Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most recent quarter (Q3 2025) | – | – | – | $0.47 | $1.88 (0.47 × 4) | (Annualized dividend ÷ EPS) × 100% |
| Prior quarter (Q2 2025) | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Historical average (last 5 years) | – | – | – | – | – | – |
If we had the EPS for Q3 2025 (or the trailing‑12‑month EPS), we could plug the $1.88 annualized dividend into the formula above and obtain the current payout ratio.
*Comparing that ratio to the historical average (e.g., “the payout ratio has been 45 % over the past five years”) would show whether the company is tightening or loosening its dividend policy.
*Benchmarking against peers would involve pulling the same ratio for each comparable firm and calculating a sector median or mean. For example, if the median payout ratio in the home‑essentials sector is 38 % and Spectrum Brands’ ratio is 52 %, the company is paying out a larger share of earnings than most of its competitors, which could signal a more generous return to shareholders but also a higher reliance on cash flow to sustain the dividend.
How you can obtain the needed numbers
- SEC filings (Form 10‑K and 10‑Q) – These documents contain net income, earnings per share, and the number of shares outstanding for each reporting period.
- Company’s investor‑relations website – Press releases often accompany a “Dividend History” table that shows the total dividend paid each quarter and the corresponding EPS.
- Financial data platforms (e.g., Bloomberg, FactSet, S&P Capital IQ, Yahoo Finance) – You can pull the “Dividend Payout Ratio” metric directly for both Spectrum Brands and its peers.
- Industry reports – Analyst research notes or sector overviews often summarize average payout ratios for the consumer‑products/home‑essentials space.
Bottom line
- From the information in the news release alone, we cannot calculate Spectrum Brands’ dividend payout ratio because the necessary earnings data are missing.
- Therefore, we also cannot assess how the current ratio compares to the company’s historical payout levels or to the payout ratios of its industry peers without pulling additional financial statements or third‑party data.
If you can provide the latest EPS (or net‑income) figure for Spectrum Brands, or point us to a source that lists its historical payout ratios, we can quickly compute the current ratio and place it in context with both the company’s past practice and the typical range for comparable firms.