It Might Be Better To Avoid TELUS Corporation's (TSE:T) Upcoming Dividend
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see TELUS Corporation (TSE:T) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 10th of December will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 2nd of January.
TELUS's next dividend payment will be CA$0.58 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of CA$2.33 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, TELUS has a trailing yield of 4.6% on the current stock price of CA$50.16. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether TELUS has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
See our latest analysis for TELUS
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. It paid out 77% of its earnings as dividends last year, which is not unreasonable, but limits reinvestment in the business and leaves the dividend vulnerable to a business downturn. We'd be worried about the risk of a drop in earnings. 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. It paid out an unsustainably high 369% of its free cash flow as dividends over the past 12 months, which is worrying. Our definition of free cash flow excludes cash generated from asset sales, so since TELUS is paying out such a high percentage of its cash flow, it might be worth seeing if it sold assets or had similar events that might have led to such a high dividend payment.
TELUS paid out less in dividends than it reported in profits, but unfortunately it didn't generate enough cash to cover the dividend. Cash is king, as they say, and were TELUS to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. This is why it's a relief to see TELUS earnings per share are up 7.4% per annum over the last five years. Earnings have been growing at a steady rate, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year.
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, ten years ago, TELUS has lifted its dividend by approximately 9.4% 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.
To Sum It Up
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid TELUS? TELUS is paying out a reasonable percentage of its income and an uncomfortably high 369% of its cash flow as dividends. At least earnings per share have been growing steadily. Overall it doesn't look like the most suitable dividend stock for a long-term buy and hold investor.
Ever wonder what the future holds for TELUS? See what the 16 analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
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.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
