Yahoo Finance There's A Lot To Like About Shoe Carnival, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:SCVL) Upcoming 0.3% Dividend
It looks like Shoe Carnival, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCVL) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 4th of October will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 21st of October.
Shoe Carnival's next dividend payment will be US$0.09 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.3 per share. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Shoe Carnival has a trailing yield of approximately 1.0% on its current stock price of $32.44. 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 check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
View our latest analysis for Shoe Carnival
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Shoe Carnival paid out just 12% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. What's good is that dividends were well covered by free cash flow, with the company paying out 10% of its cash flow last year.
It's positive to see that Shoe Carnival's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.
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 business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. For this reason, we're glad to see Shoe Carnival's earnings per share have risen 15% per annum over the last five years. Earnings per share are growing rapidly and the company is keeping more than half of its earnings within the business; an attractive combination which could suggest the company is focused on reinvesting to grow earnings further. This will make it easier to fund future growth efforts and we think this is an attractive combination - plus the dividend can always be increased later.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the past seven years, Shoe Carnival has increased its dividend at approximately 7.9% a year on average. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.
To Sum It Up
Is Shoe Carnival an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? We love that Shoe Carnival is growing earnings per share while simultaneously paying out a low percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. These characteristics suggest the company is reinvesting in growing its business, while the conservative payout ratio also implies a reduced risk of the dividend being cut in the future. It's a promising combination that should mark this company worthy of closer attention.
Wondering what the future holds for Shoe Carnival? See what the four 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 dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top 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.
