Yahoo Finance Three Days Left Until Camping World Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CWH) Trades Ex-Dividend
It looks like Camping World Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CWH) is about to go ex-dividend in the next three 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 of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. This means that investors who purchase Camping World Holdings' shares on or after the 13th of March will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 29th of March.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.125 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.50 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Camping World Holdings stock has a trailing yield of around 1.8% on the current share price of US$27.76. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Camping World Holdings's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Camping World Holdings
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. An unusually high payout ratio of 216% of its profit suggests something is happening other than the usual distribution of profits to shareholders. 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 distributed 38% of its free cash flow as dividends, a comfortable payout level for most companies.
It's good to see that while Camping World Holdings's dividends were not covered by profits, at least they are affordable from a cash perspective. 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?
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. For this reason, we're glad to see Camping World Holdings's earnings per share have risen 20% per annum over the last five years.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Camping World Holdings has delivered an average of 6.6% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past seven years of dividend payments. 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
Should investors buy Camping World Holdings for the upcoming dividend? Earnings per share have been rising nicely although, even though its cashflow payout ratio is low, we question why Camping World Holdings is paying out so much of its profit. Overall, it's hard to get excited about Camping World Holdings from a dividend perspective.
With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Camping World Holdings (of which 1 is a bit concerning!) you should know about.
If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.
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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.
