Why You Might Be Interested In Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE:B) For Its Upcoming Dividend
Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE:B) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 3 days time. You can purchase shares before the 26th of February in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 10th of March.
Barnes Group's next dividend payment will be US$0.16 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.64 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Barnes Group has a trailing yield of 1.0% on the current stock price of $66.28. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
See our latest analysis for Barnes Group
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. Barnes Group has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 21% of its income after tax. 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. What's good is that dividends were well covered by free cash flow, with the company paying out 18% of its cash flow last year.
It's positive to see that Barnes Group'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 with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. For this reason, we're glad to see Barnes Group's earnings per share have risen 18% per annum over the last five years. Earnings per share are growing rapidly and the company is keeping more than half of its earnings within the business; an attractive combination which could suggest the company is focused on reinvesting to grow earnings further. Fast-growing businesses that are reinvesting heavily are enticing from a dividend perspective, especially since they can often increase the payout ratio later.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. It looks like the Barnes Group dividends are largely the same as they were ten years ago.
To Sum It Up
Should investors buy Barnes Group for the upcoming dividend? Barnes Group has grown its earnings per share while simultaneously reinvesting in the business. Unfortunately it's cut the dividend at least once in the past ten years, but the conservative payout ratio makes the current dividend look sustainable. Barnes Group looks solid on this analysis overall, and we'd definitely consider investigating it more closely.
Ever wonder what the future holds for Barnes Group? See what the six analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting 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.
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