LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMAT) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon
It looks like LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMAT) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Thus, you can purchase LeMaitre Vascular's shares before the 8th of March in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 23rd of March.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.14 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.56 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, LeMaitre Vascular has a trailing yield of approximately 1.1% on its current stock price of $50.92. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether LeMaitre Vascular's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
See our latest analysis for LeMaitre Vascular
Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. LeMaitre Vascular paid out more than half (53%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies.
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 fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. That explains why we're not overly excited about LeMaitre Vascular's flat earnings over the past five years. It's better than seeing them drop, certainly, but over the long term, all of the best dividend stocks are able to meaningfully grow their earnings per share. Earnings per share growth has been slim, and the company is already paying out a majority of its earnings. While there is some room to both increase the payout ratio and reinvest in the business, generally the higher a payout ratio goes, the lower a company's prospects for future growth.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the last 10 years, LeMaitre Vascular has lifted its dividend by approximately 19% a year on average.
The Bottom Line
Is LeMaitre Vascular an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? LeMaitre Vascular's earnings are effectively flat over recent years, even as the company pays out more than half of its earnings to shareholders as dividends. Overall, LeMaitre Vascular looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.
Wondering what the future holds for LeMaitre Vascular? See what the six analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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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