Yahoo Finance Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN) Goes Ex-Dividend In 3 Days
Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. Investors can purchase shares before the 1st of August in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 16th of August.
Eaton's next dividend payment will be US$0.71 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$2.84 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Eaton stock has a trailing yield of around 3.5% on the current share price of $81.57. 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 Eaton can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
See our latest analysis for Eaton
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Eaton is paying out an acceptable 53% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. 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. Over the last year it paid out 51% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual 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?
Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Eaton, with earnings per share up 5.2% on average over the last five years. While earnings have been growing at a credible rate, the company is paying out a majority of its earnings to shareholders. Therefore it's unlikely that the company will be able to reinvest heavily in its business, which could presage slower growth in the future.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the last 10 years, Eaton has lifted its dividend by approximately 11% a year on average. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.
To Sum It Up
Has Eaton got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Earnings per share have been growing modestly and Eaton paid out a bit over half of its earnings and free cash flow last year. While it does have some good things going for it, we're a bit ambivalent and it would take more to convince us of Eaton's dividend merits.
Wondering what the future holds for Eaton? See what the 20 analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
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.
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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.
