Is It Worth Considering Marine Products Corporation (NYSE:MPX) For Its Upcoming Dividend?
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Marine Products Corporation (NYSE:MPX) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 7th of August, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 10th of September.
Marine Products's next dividend payment will be US$0.08 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.42 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Marine Products stock has a trailing yield of around 3.3% on the current share price of $12.83. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Marine Products's dividend is reliable and sustainable. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
See our latest analysis for Marine Products
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. It paid out 78% 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 concerned if earnings began to decline. 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. Dividends consumed 58% of the company's free cash flow last year, which is within a normal range for most dividend-paying organisations.
It's positive to see that Marine Products'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 how much of its profit Marine Products paid out over the last 12 months.
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 decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Fortunately for readers, Marine Products's earnings per share have been growing at 16% a year for the past five years. The company paid out most of its earnings as dividends over the last year, even though business is booming and earnings per share are growing rapidly. We're surprised that management has not elected to reinvest more in the business to accelerate growth further.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Marine Products has delivered 20% dividend growth per year on average over the past nine years. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.
To Sum It Up
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Marine Products? Higher earnings per share generally lead to higher dividends from dividend-paying stocks over the long run. However, we'd also note that Marine Products is paying out more than half of its earnings and cash flow as profits, which could limit the dividend growth if earnings growth slows. Overall we're not hugely bearish on the stock, but there are likely better dividend investments out there.
So while Marine Products looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 2 warning signs with Marine Products and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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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