Absolute Software (TSE:ABST) Will Pay A Dividend Of CA$0.08
Absolute Software Corporation's (TSE:ABST) investors are due to receive a payment of CA$0.08 per share on 27th of August. The dividend yield will be 1.8% based on this payment which is still above the industry average.
See our latest analysis for Absolute Software
Absolute Software Doesn't Earn Enough To Cover Its Payments
While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. Based on the last payment, Absolute Software's profits didn't cover the dividend, but the company was generating enough cash instead. Healthy cash flows are always a positive sign, especially when they quite easily cover the dividend.
Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 77.9%. If the dividend continues along the path it has been on recently, the company could be paying out more than double what it is earning, which is definitely a bit high to be sustainable going forward.
Absolute Software Is Still Building Its Track Record
The dividend's track record has been pretty solid, but with only 9 years of history we want to see a few more years of history before making any solid conclusions. Since 2012, the dividend has gone from US$0.19 to US$0.25. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 2.9% per annum over that time. Absolute Software hasn't been paying a dividend for very long, so we wouldn't get to excited about its record of growth just yet.
Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve
Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. However, initial appearances might be deceiving. It's not great to see that Absolute Software's earnings per share has fallen at approximately 4.3% per year over the past five years. A modest decline in earnings isn't great, and it makes it quite unlikely that the dividend will grow in the future unless that trend can be reversed.
The company has also been raising capital by issuing stock equal to 17% of shares outstanding in the last 12 months. Regularly doing this can be detrimental - it's hard to grow dividends per share when new shares are regularly being created.
The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable
In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about Absolute Software's payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. In the past, the payments have been unstable, but over the short term the dividend could be reliable, with the company generating enough cash to cover it. We don't think Absolute Software is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For instance, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Absolute Software that investors should take into consideration. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of strong dividend payers.
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.
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