Yahoo Finance We Wouldn't Be Too Quick To Buy carsales.com Ltd (ASX:CAR) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend
carsales.com Ltd (ASX:CAR) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in four days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 23rd of March will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 21st of April.
carsales.com's next dividend payment will be AU$0.25 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed AU$0.50 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, carsales.com stock has a trailing yield of around 2.7% on the current share price of A$18.43. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
Check out our latest analysis for carsales.com
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. carsales.com distributed an unsustainably high 112% of its profit as dividends to shareholders last year. Without extenuating circumstances, we'd consider the dividend at risk of a cut. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether carsales.com generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Over the last year it paid out 72% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual range for most companies.
It's disappointing to see that the dividend was not covered by profits, but cash is more important from a dividend sustainability perspective, and carsales.com 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 that aren't growing their earnings can still be valuable, but it is even more important to assess the sustainability of the dividend if it looks like the company will struggle to grow. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. It's not encouraging to see that carsales.com's earnings are effectively flat over the past five years. We'd take that over an earnings decline any day, but in the long run, the best dividend stocks all grow their earnings per share.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, carsales.com has lifted its dividend by approximately 12% a year on average.
Final Takeaway
Has carsales.com got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Earnings per share have barely moved in recent times, and the company is paying out an uncomfortably high percentage of its income. Fortunately its cash generation was somewhat stronger. With the way things are shaping up from a dividend perspective, we'd be inclined to steer clear of carsales.com.
So if you're still interested in carsales.com despite it's poor dividend qualities, you should be well informed on some of the risks facing this stock. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for carsales.com and you should be aware of these before buying any 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.
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. 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
