Yahoo Finance Webjet Limited (ASX:WEB) Will Pay A AU$0.09 Dividend In 4 Days
It looks like Webjet Limited (ASX:WEB) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. You will need to purchase shares before the 25th of March to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 16th of April.
Webjet's next dividend payment will be AU$0.09 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed AU$0.23 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Webjet has a trailing yield of approximately 6.0% on its current stock price of A$3.76. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Webjet's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
See our latest analysis for Webjet
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. Webjet is paying out an acceptable 69% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. 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. Over the last year, it paid out more than three-quarters (81%) of its free cash flow generated, which is fairly high and may be starting to limit reinvestment in the business.
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?
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 decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Webjet, with earnings per share up 6.1% on average over the last five years. Decent historical earnings per share growth suggests Webjet has been effectively growing value for shareholders. However, it's now paying out more than half its earnings as dividends. Therefore it's unlikely that the company will be able to reinvest heavily in its business, which could presage slower growth in the future.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the past ten years, Webjet has increased its dividend at approximately 15% 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
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Webjet? Earnings per share growth has been unremarkable, and while the company is paying out a majority of its earnings and cash flow in the form of dividends, the dividend payments don't appear excessive. Overall, it's not a bad combination, but we feel that there are likely more attractive dividend prospects out there.
If you want to look further into Webjet, it's worth knowing the risks this business faces. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Webjet that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.
We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
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.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
