Income Investors Should Know That HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon
It looks like HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) is about to go ex-dividend in the next four days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 26th of February, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 8th of March.
HNI's next dividend payment will be US$0.30 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.22 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, HNI has a trailing yield of approximately 3.6% on its current stock price of $34.29. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
See our latest analysis for HNI
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Its dividend payout ratio is 78% of profit, which means the company is paying out a majority of its earnings. The relatively limited profit reinvestment could slow the rate of future earnings growth. We'd be concerned if earnings began to decline. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. Fortunately, it paid out only 26% of its free cash flow in the past year.
It's positive to see that HNI'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 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. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at HNI, with earnings per share up 2.7% on average over the last five years. A high payout ratio of 78% generally happens when a company can't find better uses for the cash. Combined with slim earnings growth in the past few years, HNI could be signalling that its future growth prospects are thin.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, HNI has lifted its dividend by approximately 3.6% a year on average. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.
Final Takeaway
Is HNI worth buying for its dividend? While earnings per share growth has been modest, HNI's dividend payouts are around an average level; without a sharp change in earnings we feel that the dividend is likely somewhat sustainable. Pleasingly the company paid out a conservatively low percentage of its free cash flow. Overall, it's not a bad combination, but we feel that there are likely more attractive dividend prospects out there.
In light of that, while HNI has an appealing dividend, it's worth knowing the risks involved with this stock. Our analysis shows 1 warning sign for HNI and you should be aware of this before buying any shares.
If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top 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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