I've been loading up on $PACWP. Obviously it's risky, but I prefer it (no pun intended) to the common shares at this time, given that preferred shares are higher on the liquidation table, and the upside is still quite attractive.
I've also been looking into $WAL-A. However, the yield is much lower, so I was only going to buy if the dividends were cumulative. They're not. Nor are PacWest's preferred shares, but the yield is high enough such that it's worth the risk, also because the principal is far enough below par that I'm still up for big gains on any reversion to par.
It made me think, though: what's the downside to a company ceasing its preferred dividend? Why would they keep paying it if they wanted to save more cash, rather than ceasing it along with the common stock dividend?
I feel like there's some sort of downside I'm missing or else PacWest would have just stopped all dividend payments. Maybe they are just trying to protect the preferred shares, but again, for what reason? If they need to stay solvent to even pay the preferred shareholders, why would they protect them at this moment?
Thanks in advance for your insight!
Leave a Reply