It looks like James Halstead plc (LON:JHD) is about to go ex-dividend in the next three days. You will need to purchase shares before the 19th of November to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 11th of December.
James Halstead's upcoming dividend is UK£0.10 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of UK£0.14 per share to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, James Halstead has a trailing yield of approximately 3.0% on its current stock price of £4.68. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to investigate whether James Halstead can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
Check out our latest analysis for James Halstead
Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. It paid out 86% of its earnings as dividends last year, which is not unreasonable, but limits reinvestment in the business and leaves the dividend vulnerable to a business downturn. We'd be concerned if earnings began to decline. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether James Halstead generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. It paid out 95% of its free cash flow in the form of dividends last year, which is outside the comfort zone for most businesses. Companies usually need cash more than they need earnings - expenses don't pay themselves - so it's not great to see it paying out so much of its cash flow.
While James Halstead's dividends were covered by the company's reported profits, cash is somewhat more important, so it's not great to see that the company didn't generate enough cash to pay its dividend. Were this to happen repeatedly, this would be a risk to James Halstead's ability to maintain its dividend.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies that aren't growing their earnings can still be valuable, but it is even more important to assess the sustainability of the dividend if it looks like the company will struggle to grow. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. It's not encouraging to see that James Halstead's earnings are effectively flat over the past five years. We'd take that over an earnings decline any day, but in the long run, the best dividend stocks all grow their earnings per share. Earnings have been growing somewhat, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. James Halstead has delivered an average of 7.9% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments.
Final Takeaway
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid James Halstead? James Halstead is paying out a reasonable percentage of its income yet an uncomfortably high 95% of its cash flow as dividends. What's more, earnings have barely grown. It's not an attractive combination from a dividend perspective, and we're inclined to pass on this one for the time being.
Wondering what the future holds for James Halstead? See what the two analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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