Over the past year, high inflation has weakened the purchasing power of investors who rely on dividend payments as a source of income. When companies increase their payout rates faster than prices rise, it enables shareholders' investment returns to keep up and enhance purchasing power throughout the investment period.
8x, and Air Liquide , which trades at 23.4x. "Given Air Products' arguably higher potential exposure to commodity ammonia pricing in future, we believe this lower valuation is justified," Bray added. It should be noted, however, that past performance cannot be used to forecast future dividend payouts.