Yahoo Finance Income Investors Should Know That Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE:B) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE:B) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Accordingly, Barnes Group investors that purchase the stock on or after the 22nd of November will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 10th of December.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.16 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.64 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Barnes Group has a trailing yield of 1.4% on the current share price of $44.32. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
View our latest analysis for Barnes Group
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. Barnes Group paid out a comfortable 36% of its profit last year. 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 23% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservatively low.
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?
When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. So we're not too excited that Barnes Group's earnings are down 4.3% a year over the past five years.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Barnes Group has delivered 7.2% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years.
The Bottom Line
Is Barnes Group an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Earnings per share are down meaningfully, although at least the company is paying out a low and conservative percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. It's definitely not great to see earnings falling, but at least there may be some buffer before the dividend needs to be cut. Overall we're not hugely bearish on the stock, but there are likely better dividend investments out there.
On that note, you'll want to research what risks Barnes Group is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Barnes Group you should know about.
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. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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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