It Might Not Be A Great Idea To Buy Open Text Corporation (NASDAQ:OTEX) For Its Next Dividend
Open Text Corporation (NASDAQ:OTEX) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 3 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. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Therefore, if you purchase Open Text's shares on or after the 1st of December, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 22nd of December.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.24 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.97 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Open Text has a trailing yield of 3.3% on the current share price of $29.8. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! As a result, readers should always check whether Open Text has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
Check out our latest analysis for Open Text
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Open Text distributed an unsustainably high 165% of its profit as dividends to shareholders last year. Without more sustainable payment behaviour, the dividend looks precarious. 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 30% of its free cash flow in the past year.
It's good to see that while Open Text's dividends were not covered by profits, at least they are affordable from a cash perspective. If executives were to continue paying more in dividends than the company reported in profits, we'd view this as a warning sign. Extraordinarily few companies are capable of persistently paying a dividend that is greater than their profits.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Open Text's earnings per share have plummeted approximately 33% a year over the previous five years.
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, Open Text has lifted its dividend by approximately 12% a year on average. The only way to pay higher dividends when earnings are shrinking is either to pay out a larger percentage of profits, spend cash from the balance sheet, or borrow the money. Open Text is already paying out 165% of its profits, and with shrinking earnings we think it's unlikely that this dividend will grow quickly in the future.
To Sum It Up
Is Open Text an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? It's not a great combination to see a company with earnings in decline and paying out 165% of its profits, which could imply the dividend may be at risk of being cut in the future. Yet cashflow was much stronger, which makes us wonder if there are some large timing issues in Open Text's cash flows, or perhaps the company has written down some assets aggressively, reducing its income. Bottom line: Open Text has some unfortunate characteristics that we think could lead to sub-optimal outcomes for dividend investors.
Having said that, if you're looking at this stock without much concern for the dividend, you should still be familiar of the risks involved with Open Text. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Open Text you should be aware of.
Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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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