Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 5/27/15, EPR Properties (EPR), Nelnet Inc (NNI), and FirstMerit Corp (FMER) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. EPR Properties will pay its monthly dividend of $0.3025 on 6/15/15, Nelnet Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.10 on 6/15/15, and FirstMerit Corp will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.16 on 6/15/15.
As a percentage of EPR's recent stock price of $58.66, this dividend works out to approximately 0.52%, so look for shares of EPR Properties to trade 0.52% lower — all else being equal — when EPR shares open for trading on 5/27/15. Similarly, investors should look for NNI to open 0.24% lower in price and for FMER to open 0.81% lower, all else being equal. Below are dividend history charts for EPR, NNI, and FMER, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared. EPR Properties (EPR):
START SLIDESHOW:
Nelnet Inc (NNI): 
FirstMerit Corp (FMER): 
In general, dividends are not always predictable, following the ups and downs of company profits over time. Therefore, a good first due diligence step in forming an expectation of annual yield going forward, is looking at the history above, for a sense of stability over time. This can help in judging whether the most recent dividends from these companies are likely to continue. If they do continue, the current estimated yields on annualized basis would be 6.19% for EPR Properties, 0.95% for Nelnet Inc, and 3.24% for FirstMerit Corp. In Tuesday trading, EPR Properties shares are currently down about 0.2%, Nelnet Inc shares are off about 0.6%, and FirstMerit Corp shares are down about 0.6% on the day.
