Income Investors Should Know That Electrocomponents plc (LON:ECM) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon
Readers hoping to buy Electrocomponents plc (LON:ECM) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. Accordingly, Electrocomponents investors that purchase the stock on or after the 17th of June will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 23rd of July.
The company's next dividend payment will be UK£0.098 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of UK£0.16 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Electrocomponents stock has a trailing yield of around 1.6% on the current share price of £10.12. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! So we need to investigate whether Electrocomponents can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
Check out our latest analysis for Electrocomponents
Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Electrocomponents paid out 57% of its earnings to investors last year, a normal payout level for most businesses. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. It paid out more than half (54%) of its free cash flow in the past year, which is within an average range for most companies.
It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. It's encouraging to see Electrocomponents has grown its earnings rapidly, up 41% a year for the past five years. The current payout ratio suggests a good balance between rewarding shareholders with dividends, and reinvesting in growth. With a reasonable payout ratio, profits being reinvested, and some earnings growth, Electrocomponents could have strong prospects for future increases to the dividend.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the past 10 years, Electrocomponents has increased its dividend at approximately 3.8% a year on average. Earnings per share have been growing much quicker than dividends, potentially because Electrocomponents is keeping back more of its profits to grow the business.
Final Takeaway
Has Electrocomponents got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Higher earnings per share generally lead to higher dividends from dividend-paying stocks over the long run. That's why we're glad to see Electrocomponents's earnings per share growing, although as we saw, the company is paying out more than half of its earnings and cashflow - 57% and 54% respectively. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about Electrocomponents from a dividend perspective.
So while Electrocomponents looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. For example - Electrocomponents has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
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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