Dewhurst plc (LON:DWHT) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon
It looks like Dewhurst plc (LON:DWHT) is about to go ex-dividend in the next four days. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 9th of July will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 18th of August.
Dewhurst's next dividend payment will be UK£0.037 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed UK£0.13 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Dewhurst has a trailing yield of 1.4% on the current share price of £9. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
View our latest analysis for Dewhurst
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. Dewhurst paid out a comfortable 40% of its profit last year. 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. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 31% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.
It's positive to see that Dewhurst'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 how much of its profit Dewhurst paid out over the last 12 months.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Dewhurst's earnings per share have dropped 6.8% a year over the past five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, ten years ago, Dewhurst has lifted its dividend by approximately 7.9% a year on average.
To Sum It Up
Should investors buy Dewhurst for the upcoming dividend? Earnings per share are down meaningfully, although at least the company is paying out a low and conservative percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. It's definitely not great to see earnings falling, but at least there may be some buffer before the dividend needs to be cut. In summary, while it has some positive characteristics, we're not inclined to race out and buy Dewhurst today.
In light of that, while Dewhurst has an appealing dividend, it's worth knowing the risks involved with this stock. To help with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Dewhurst 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.
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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