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Be Sure To Check Out NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. This means that investors who purchase NIKE's shares on or after the 2nd of June will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 5th of July.

The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.34 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$1.36 per share to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, NIKE has a trailing yield of approximately 1.3% on its current stock price of $107.51. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether NIKE's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

See our latest analysis for NIKE

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. Fortunately NIKE's payout ratio is modest, at just 37% of profit. 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. It paid out more than half (52%) of its free cash flow in the past year, which is within an average range for most companies.

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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.

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historic-dividend

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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. This is why it's a relief to see NIKE earnings per share are up 6.9% per annum 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. If management lifts the payout ratio further, we'd take this as a tacit signal that the company's growth prospects are slowing.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, NIKE has increased its dividend at approximately 14% 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.

The Bottom Line

Should investors buy NIKE for the upcoming dividend? Earnings per share have been growing at a steady rate, and NIKE paid out less than half its profits and more than half its free cash flow as dividends over the last year. Overall, it's hard to get excited about NIKE from a dividend perspective.

Ever wonder what the future holds for NIKE? See what the 34 analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow

If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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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