Yahoo Finance Should Income Investors Look At Coventry Group Ltd (ASX:CYG) Before Its Ex-Dividend?
Readers hoping to buy Coventry Group Ltd (ASX:CYG) 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. In other words, investors can purchase Coventry Group's shares before the 28th of September in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 13th of October.
The company's next dividend payment will be AU$0.035 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed AU$0.035 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Coventry Group has a trailing yield of 2.9% on the current stock price of A$1.2. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
See our latest analysis for Coventry Group
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Coventry Group distributed an unsustainably high 130% of its profit as dividends to shareholders last year. Without more sustainable payment behaviour, the dividend looks precarious. 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. Luckily it paid out just 20% of its free cash flow last year.
It's disappointing to see that the dividend was not covered by profits, but cash is more important from a dividend sustainability perspective, and Coventry Group fortunately did generate enough cash to fund its dividend. If executives were to continue paying more in dividends than the company reported in profits, we'd view this as a warning sign. Extraordinarily few companies are capable of persistently paying a dividend that is greater than their profits.
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 earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. That's why it's comforting to see Coventry Group's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 70% per annum for the past five years.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Coventry Group's dividend payments per share have declined at 17% per year on average over the past 10 years, which is uninspiring. It's unusual to see earnings per share increasing at the same time as dividends per share have been in decline. We'd hope it's because the company is reinvesting heavily in its business, but it could also suggest business is lumpy.
The Bottom Line
Has Coventry Group got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Earnings per share have been rising nicely although, even though its cashflow payout ratio is low, we question why Coventry Group is paying out so much of its profit. Overall we're not hugely bearish on the stock, but there are likely better dividend investments out there.
In light of that, while Coventry Group has an appealing dividend, it's worth knowing the risks involved with this stock. For example - Coventry Group has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.
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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.
