Yahoo Finance 3 Days To Buy Excelsior Capital Limited (ASX:ECL) Before The Ex-Dividend Date
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Excelsior Capital Limited (ASX:ECL) is about to go ex-dividend in just 3 days. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 3rd of September will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 18th of September.
Excelsior Capital's next dividend payment will be AU$0.03 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed AU$0.06 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Excelsior Capital has a trailing yield of 4.8% on the current share price of A$1.25. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Excelsior Capital's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Excelsior Capital
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. That's why it's good to see Excelsior Capital paying out a modest 32% of its earnings. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. What's good is that dividends were well covered by free cash flow, with the company paying out 18% of its cash flow last year.
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 how much of its profit Excelsior Capital paid out over the last 12 months.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Excelsior Capital's earnings per share have dropped 5.3% a year over the past five years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Excelsior Capital's dividend payments are broadly unchanged compared to where they were six years ago. If a company's dividend stays flat while earnings are in decline, this is typically a sign that it is paying out a larger percentage of its earnings. This can become unsustainable if earnings fall far enough.
To Sum It Up
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Excelsior Capital? Excelsior Capital has comfortably low cash and profit payout ratios, which may mean the dividend is sustainable even in the face of a sharp decline in earnings per share. Still, we consider declining earnings to be a warning sign. Overall, it's hard to get excited about Excelsior Capital from a dividend perspective.
Keen to explore more data on Excelsior Capital's financial performance? Check out our visualisation of its historical revenue and earnings growth.
We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.