Yahoo Finance ALS Limited (ASX:ALQ) Is About To Go Ex-Dividend, And It Pays A 3.1% Yield
Readers hoping to buy ALS Limited (ASX:ALQ) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. This means that investors who purchase ALS' shares on or after the 24th of November will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 16th of December.
The company's next dividend payment will be AU$0.20 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed AU$0.37 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that ALS has a trailing yield of 3.1% on the current share price of A$12.17. 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 investigate whether ALS can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
Check out our latest analysis for ALS
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. ALS is paying out an acceptable 68% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. 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. It paid out more than half (62%) of its free cash flow in the past year, which is within an average range for most companies.
It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.
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. It's encouraging to see ALS has grown its earnings rapidly, up 22% a year for the past five years. Management appears to be striking a nice balance between reinvesting for growth and paying dividends to shareholders. With a reasonable payout ratio, profits being reinvested, and some earnings growth, ALS could have strong prospects for future increases to the dividend.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. It looks like the ALS dividends are largely the same as they were 10 years ago.
The Bottom Line
Is ALS an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? It's good to see earnings are growing, since all of the best dividend stocks grow their earnings meaningfully over the long run. That's why we're glad to see ALS's earnings per share growing, although as we saw, the company is paying out more than half of its earnings and cashflow - 68% and 62% respectively. Overall, it's hard to get excited about ALS from a dividend perspective.
On that note, you'll want to research what risks ALS is facing. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for ALS that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.
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.
Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
