NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC) Is About To Go Ex-Dividend, And It Pays A 2.6% Yield
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see NACCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NC) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. 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. In other words, investors can purchase NACCO Industries' shares before the 29th of November in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 15th of December.
The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.20 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$0.79 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, NACCO Industries stock has a trailing yield of around 2.6% on the current share price of $30.63. 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 NACCO Industries has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
View our latest analysis for NACCO Industries
Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. NACCO Industries paid out just 16% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances. 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. It paid out an unsustainably high 226% of its free cash flow as dividends over the past 12 months, which is worrying. It's pretty hard to pay out more than you earn, so we wonder how NACCO Industries intends to continue funding this dividend, or if it could be forced to cut the payment.
NACCO Industries does have a large net cash position on the balance sheet, which could fund large dividends for a time, if the company so chose. Still, smart investors know that it is better to assess dividends relative to the cash and profit generated by the business. Paying dividends out of cash on the balance sheet is not long-term sustainable.
While NACCO Industries's dividends were covered by the company's reported profits, cash is somewhat more important, so it's not great to see that the company didn't generate enough cash to pay its dividend. Cash is king, as they say, and were NACCO Industries to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign.
Click here to see how much of its profit NACCO Industries paid out over the last 12 months.
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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. That's why it's comforting to see NACCO Industries's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 72% per annum for the past five years. Earnings have been growing quickly, 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. NACCO Industries's dividend payments per share have declined at 9.3% per year on average over the past 10 years, which is uninspiring. It's unusual to see earnings per share increasing at the same time as dividends per share have been in decline. We'd hope it's because the company is reinvesting heavily in its business, but it could also suggest business is lumpy.
Final Takeaway
Has NACCO Industries got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? We like that NACCO Industries has been successfully growing its earnings per share at a nice rate and reinvesting most of its profits in the business. However, we note the high cashflow payout ratio with some concern. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about NACCO Industries from a dividend perspective.
While it's tempting to invest in NACCO Industries for the dividends alone, you should always be mindful of the risks involved. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for NACCO Industries and you should be aware of them before buying any 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. 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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