National Grid Results

[TheDove]

Re PNN

I read somewhere recently (can't recall where) that the SP is showing several months of weakness against one of the sector indices (sorry, no longer very good at remembering detail such as this). Seemingly the worries centre on the Viridor subsidiary. I must say this had all passed me by as my numbers still show blue (just) and I've been considering topping up. I see a broker upgrade today has given a small flip to the SP.

Anyone else with a view ?

Dove

[Markblox]

As I said above, I am tempted to buy NG if the price drops further.
I am also considering VODA if the price falls to about 192 (or less of course) which would only be a 6 or 7% drop from today.In the current volatile climate I think this us quite possible in the short term.
Yield at 192 would be I think about 5.96%

Anyone any other thoughts ?

Cover?

[unperplex]

Well, NG didn't go further down and did bounce up 1.25% at the close, so I didn't buy.
I'm keeping watch though.
I feel there will be plenty of volatility in the near future which might push NG down again (either individually or as part of a wider market fall).

[unperplex]

Markblox - Cover ? - Quite so.Always something to consider.

HL shows NG cover last year at 1.47.
This is of course well below what I understand to be the traditional ideal of 2x
However I recollect reading earlier this year that the total earnings of the FTSE 100 only cover the total dividend payments by 1.5 x. And that the 10 highest dividend yields in the FTSE 100 have an average cover of 1.2x

In this context NG do not seem too bad........

[unperplex]

Markblox - Cover ? Sorry, you probably meant VODA cover.

Yes, I see your point.
HL has their cover last year at 0.44 and it has been declining steadily from 1.6 or so over the past 5 years.
In that context one does wonder how long the dividend can be sustained at that level.

[unperplex]

Markblox - Cover ? Sorry, you probably meant VODA cover.

I see your point.
HL has their cover last year at 0.44, declining steadily over the past 5 years.
In this context one wonders how long the dividend can be sustained at this level.

[GrahamPlatt]

Forward yield of VOD is already 6.3%.