dividend cover
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dividend cover
ortimes covered
a measure of the extent to which a firm's earnings (profit after tax and interest) cover DIVIDEND paid, which expresses PROFITS as a multiple of dividends paid. Thus, for example, if a company pays out one quarter of its profit as dividends, then the dividend cover ratio is four. The dividend ratio is the mirror image of the DISTRIBUTION RATIO.Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson