The more secure, the better One of the most common metrics that investors use to judge the safety of a dividend is the payout ratio. This number tells you what percentage of net income is paid out to investors in the form of a dividend. Normally, anything above 50% is cause to look a bit further. According to the most recent data, Bristol-Myers Squibb's payout ratio is 22.1%. It's obvious that, at least on the surface, there aren't any problems with Bristol-Myers Squibb generating enough income to support that nice dividend of 4.9%.