The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) Is About To Go Ex-Dividend, And It Pays A 0.8% Yield
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) is about to go ex-dividend in just four days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. 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. Accordingly, Mosaic investors that purchase the stock on or after the 2nd of June will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 17th of June.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.075 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.20 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that Mosaic has a trailing yield of 0.8% on the current share price of $35.99. 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! So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
See our latest analysis for Mosaic
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. Mosaic paid out just 7.4% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Mosaic generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. The good news is it paid out just 15% of its free cash flow in the last year.
It's positive to see that Mosaic'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?
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 business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. That explains why we're not overly excited about Mosaic's flat earnings over the past five years. Better than seeing them fall off a cliff, for sure, but the best dividend stocks grow their earnings meaningfully over the long run.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, Mosaic has increased its dividend at approximately 4.1% a year on average.
To Sum It Up
Has Mosaic got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? While it's not great to see that earnings per share are effectively flat over the 10-year period we checked, at least the payout ratios are low and conservative. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about Mosaic from a dividend perspective.
So while Mosaic looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Mosaic (1 is concerning!) that you ought to be aware of before buying the shares.
A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising 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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