Yahoo Finance Here's What We Like About CNO Financial Group's (NYSE:CNO) Upcoming Dividend
CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. In other words, investors can purchase CNO Financial Group's shares before the 8th of December in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 23rd of December.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.14 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.56 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that CNO Financial Group has a trailing yield of 2.4% on the current share price of $23.13. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether CNO Financial Group's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to investigate whether CNO Financial Group can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
View our latest analysis for CNO Financial Group
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. CNO Financial Group paid out just 14% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances.
When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Fortunately for readers, CNO Financial Group's earnings per share have been growing at 15% a year for the past five years.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the past 10 years, CNO Financial Group has increased its dividend at approximately 21% a year on average. It's great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.
Final Takeaway
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid CNO Financial Group? Typically, companies that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings are keeping the profits for reinvestment in the business. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. CNO Financial Group ticks a lot of boxes for us from a dividend perspective, and we think these characteristics should mark the company as deserving of further attention.
So while CNO Financial Group looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for CNO Financial Group and you should be aware of them before buying any shares.
A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks.
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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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