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Income Investors Should Know That Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon

Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) is about to go ex-dividend in just 4 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 of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Therefore, if you purchase Kimberly-Clark's shares on or after the 9th of December, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 4th of January.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$1.14 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$4.56 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Kimberly-Clark has a trailing yield of 3.4% on the current share price of $135.39. 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! That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Kimberly-Clark

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. It paid out 76% 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 worried about the risk of a drop in earnings. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Kimberly-Clark generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. The company paid out 100% of its free cash flow over the last year, which we think is outside the ideal range for most businesses. Cash flows are usually much more volatile than earnings, so this could be a temporary effect - but we'd generally want look more closely here.

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While Kimberly-Clark'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. Were this to happen repeatedly, this would be a risk to Kimberly-Clark's ability to maintain its dividend.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

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historic-dividend

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. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. For this reason, we're glad to see Kimberly-Clark's earnings per share have risen 16% per annum over the last five years. Earnings have been growing at a decent rate, 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. Kimberly-Clark has delivered 5.0% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. Earnings per share have been growing much quicker than dividends, potentially because Kimberly-Clark is keeping back more of its profits to grow the business.

To Sum It Up

Is Kimberly-Clark worth buying for its dividend? The best dividend stocks typically boast a long history of growing earnings per share (EPS) via a combination of earnings growth and buybacks. So, you might think that Kimberly-Clark buying back stock, growing its EPS, and retaining profits within its business is a good combination. However, we note with some concern that it paid out 100% of its free cash flow last year, which is uncomfortably high and makes us wonder why the company chose to spend even more cash on buybacks. To summarise, Kimberly-Clark looks okay on this analysis, although it doesn't appear a stand-out opportunity.

If you want to look further into Kimberly-Clark, it's worth knowing the risks this business faces. To help with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Kimberly-Clark that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.

If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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.