Yahoo Finance Don't Race Out To Buy CIMIC Group Limited (ASX:CIM) Just Because It's Going Ex-Dividend
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see CIMIC Group Limited (ASX:CIM) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. 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, CIMIC Group investors that purchase the stock on or after the 11th of June will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 5th of July.
The company's upcoming dividend is AU$0.60 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of AU$1.20 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, CIMIC Group stock has a trailing yield of around 5.5% on the current share price of A$21.64. 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 CIMIC Group can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
See our latest analysis for CIMIC Group
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. CIMIC Group's dividend is not well covered by earnings, as the company lost money last year. This is not a sustainable state of affairs, so it would be worth investigating if earnings are expected to recover.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. CIMIC Group was unprofitable last year and, unfortunately, the general trend suggests its earnings have been in decline over the last five years, making us wonder if the dividend is sustainable at all.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. CIMIC Group has seen its dividend decline 2.2% per annum on average over the past 10 years, which is not great to see. While it's not great that earnings and dividends per share have fallen in recent years, we're encouraged by the fact that management has trimmed the dividend rather than risk over-committing the company in a risky attempt to maintain yields to shareholders.
We update our analysis on CIMIC Group every 24 hours, so you can always get the latest insights on its financial health, here.
The Bottom Line
Has CIMIC Group got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? These characteristics don't generally lead to outstanding dividend performance, and investors may not be happy with the results of owning this stock for its dividend.
Although, if you're still interested in CIMIC Group and want to know more, you'll find it very useful to know what risks this stock faces. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with CIMIC Group (including 1 which is potentially serious).
If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top 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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