May and June are peak dividend season for Europeaninvestors—we get that magical “kaching kaching” as companies distribute annual earnings after shareholder meetings. But this year, everything feels expensive. So what’s an Dividend investor to do when valuations are stretchedand the market seems to have priced in perfection?
There’s a peculiar kind of anxiety that hits European dividend investors in May and June. The season when portfolios should be singing—when companies are announcing their annual earnings and shareholders are voting to approve distributions—is also the season when the market feels impossibly expensive. The paradox? Your biggest dividend paydays are arriving at precisely the moment when buying more stock feels like overpaying.
Derek and EDGI tackled this head-on in episode 298 of Dividend Talk. They’re both experiencing it right now: anticipation mixed with price shock. May traditionally brings nearly a quarter of annual dividend income for European investors, thanks to the annual shareholder meetings concentrated in May and June. But in 2026, with valuations stretched across sectors and “expensive” becoming the default market condition, they’ve been asking the question that’s probably on your mind: “Should we even be buying at these prices?”
The answer, surprisingly, is yes—if you’re positioned correctly.
Why May and June Feel Different for European Dividend Investors
Here’s something American dividend investors might not fully grasp about European markets. While US companies scatter their dividend payments throughout the year, European companies largely concentrate their payouts around one event: the annual shareholder meeting. Results come out, shareholders vote on the distribution, and then companies pay their annual dividend. This creates a tidal wave of cash flow in May and June.
Derek calls it “bundling” May and June together—essentially, more than a quarter of his annual dividend income (and Edgi’s 45% of his annual total so far this year, with June still to come) arrives in a compressed two-month window. In years with lower valuations, it feels like found money. In years like this, when the S&P 500 and European indices have already climbed substantially, it feels like you’re being handed cash to reinvest at exactly the wrong time.
But that’s precisely why they emphasize an often-overlooked mindset: if you’re still in accumulation mode—if you’re still building your dividend portfolio—this compressed payment schedule isn’t a curse. It’s a feature.
Accumulation Mode and the Cost of Waiting
Derek has been explicit about his psychology here: he’s not interested in smoothing out his dividend income across twelve months. He’d rather take his lumps in May and June and have substantial capital to deploy at once. The downside, obviously, is that the market doesn’t care about your dividend calendar. Zoetis (ZTS), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), and Medtronic (MDT) all hit their 52-week lows around the same time—but are they actually cheap, or just cheaper than they were when everyone thought they were growth stocks?
This gets at the core confusion many dividend investors face. A 52-week low sounds like a bargain. But Derek and Edgi are careful to distinguish between “down from where it was” and “actually cheap.” McDonald’s (MCD), for instance, is a company they’d both consider interesting at current levels—but only at specific valuations. McDonald’s isn’t a growth story; it’s a real estate play with a burger franchise attached. As Derek puts it, you should own it “for a four percent yield on cost. That’s how I look at this stock.”
In other words, price alone isn’t the signal. Valuation relative to your entry yield is.
The Insider Information Problem: What Trump’s Dell Trade Reveals
The episode doesn’t shy away from the bigger picture—and it’s a damning one. In February, Donald Trump stood outside the White House and told people to buy Dell Technologies (DELL). DELL was trading at $118 at the time. By the time of this recording, it had surged to over $420. Trump knew, apparently, that Microsoft and other AI giants were about to award Dell a $10 billion contract.
The scandal here is almost breathtaking in its transparency. Trump didn’t hide it. He couldn’t have been more obvious. As Derek notes, if you or I had insider information about a major contract and traded on it, we’d face criminal charges. Yet there’s Trump, openly announcing his position and benefiting from information that the market didn’t have.
This isn’t a political gripe—it’s a structural problem. It reveals why dividend investors should care about two things: information asymmetry and the limits of valuation analysis. You can do all the math correctly, chart the sentiment correctly, and still lose to someone who knows what deal the government is about to sign.
It’s also worth noting what happened with HP Inc. (HPQ). If Trump is offering $10 billion to Dell, why not HP? The point: chasing insider-pumped stocks is a losing game. But it does illustrate why “everything feels expensive.” There’s a lot of capital chasing AI infrastructure right now, and NVIDIA (NVDA) isn’t expensive because it’s a bad company—it’s expensive because everyone knows what you know.
The International Angle: Polish Dividend Stocks and EKO Accounts
This is where the episode gets genuinely interesting. Poland is implementing a dividend tax incentive program—the EKO account—modeled on Sweden’s successful model. The idea is simple: if you hold dividend-paying stocks in these accounts, you get preferential tax treatment, encouraging more retail capital into dividend stocks.
For investors tired of German, Dutch, and Swiss blue chips (already priced to perfection), this opens a different landscape. Polish companies are emerging into the global economy. Some are ready for European expansion. The risk, obviously, is that you’re moving down the market-cap curve and increasing concentration risk. But if you’re looking for dividend yields that don’t require German REITs trading at single-digit yields, it’s worth exploring.
They deep-dive into one example: Nuka (NEU.WA), a Polish pharma distributor. On the surface, it looks unpromising: 13 billion in sales but only 155 million in net profit. That’s a 1.1% net margin—genuinely thin. But the dividend history tells a different story. From 2022 to now, Nuka’s dividend grew from 11.5 zloty to 17.8 zloty—an 11.2% compound annual growth rate. At a 41% payout ratio and a 2.4% current yield, it starts to look interesting, especially if you believe in the thesis that Polish consumer spending and pharma distribution are secular growth stories.
It’s a reminder that valuation isn’t just about multiples. It’s about payout sustainability, growth trajectory, and whether the market has overlooked something.
The 52-Week Low Illusion: Which Stocks Are Actually Worth Buying
Listeners submitted a list of companies trading at 52-week lows, and Derek and Edgi’s analysis reveals why price history is misleading. Just because a stock is down doesn’t mean it’s down enough.
- McDonald’s (MCD): Real estate play with dividend potential—but only at a 4% yield on cost for Edgi.
- Home Depot (HD): Interesting at a 3% yield; reflects consumer spending pressure.
- Abbott (ABT): Medical devices exposure that Edgi lacks. But EPS fell from $4 (2022) to $3.76 (2025)—declining business or spin-off impact requires investigation.
- Stryker (SYK), Accenture (ACN), Medtronic (MDT), Otis (OTIS), Brown & Brown (BRO), Zoetis (ZTS): Not interesting at current valuations for this team.
The lesson: don’t confuse “52-week low” with “fair value.” Some are on their way lower.
The Waiting Game
So, should you buy when everything feels expensive? Derek and Edgi’s answer is nuanced: it depends on your time horizon and whether you’re in accumulation or drawdown mode. If you’re still building, compressed dividend seasons during expensive markets are a feature, not a bug. You get capital flowing in, and you deploy it strategically. If you’re drawing income, waiting for pullbacks makes more sense—but be careful about letting perfect be the enemy of good.
The market is never perfectly priced, but it’s rarely catastrophically mispriced either. What matters is whether you’re buying at a yield you’re comfortable holding for decades. McDonald’s at a four percent yield on cost. Home Depot at three percent. Abbott at a multiple that reflects realistic growth. These thresholds are personal—but they’re the real tool for navigating expensive markets.
Listen to the full conversation on Dividend Talk Podcast
Episode 298: “What to Do When Everything Feels Expensive”
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and dividendtalk.eu
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📊 Full Episode: Dividend Talk Ep. 298
Disclaimer: This podcast and blog are for entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. Always consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. Dividend payments are never guaranteed. Past performance does not indicate future results.
