S&P 500 dividend yield's 11-year high appears short-lived

Dividend cuts are coming as U.S. companies “become more aware that they are running their businesses for the bond holders (and the credit markets) rather than for the equity investors,” Sean Darby, Jefferies Group Inc.’s chief global equity strategist, wrote Monday in a report. One indicator he cited was the S&P 500 Index’s forward dividend yield, based on projected payouts. The forward yield rose as much as 0.85 percentage point as the S&P 500 fell from its Feb. 19 record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its peak of 2.71%, reached March 20, was the highest since April 2009.