The recent volatile pullback in the U.S. stock market has left many investors once again looking for safe places to put their money. While gains in share price can be uncertain and unpredictable at times, there’s one source of positive returns that’s theoretically certain: dividends.

I say “theoretically” because dividend payments are guaranteed only until a company decides they’re not and cuts or eliminates them all together. Today I’m going to take a look at the dividend of one of the largest U.S. oilfield services companies, National Oilwell Varco Inc (NYSE: NOV), to determine if the company’s mouth-watering 4.94% yield is safe or if shareholders should be worrying about a dividend cut in the near future.

Plummeting into a high yield
The current dividend yield of the S&P 500 is…

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