Yahoo Finance Should Income Investors Look At Fletcher Building Limited (NZSE:FBU) Before Its Ex-Dividend?
It looks like Fletcher Building Limited (NZSE:FBU) is about to go ex-dividend in the next four days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the 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. In other words, investors can purchase Fletcher Building's shares before the 26th of August in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 17th of September.
The company's next dividend payment will be NZ$0.18 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed NZ$0.36 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Fletcher Building has a trailing yield of 4.7% on the current share price of NZ$7.73. 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! We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
View our latest analysis for Fletcher Building
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. That's why it's good to see Fletcher Building paying out a modest 32% of its earnings. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Fletcher Building generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. It paid out 15% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservatively low.
It's positive to see that Fletcher Building'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?
Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Fletcher Building's earnings per share have fallen at approximately 11% a year over the previous five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Fletcher Building has delivered an average of 1.2% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments.
To Sum It Up
Is Fletcher Building worth buying for its dividend? Earnings per share are down meaningfully, although at least the company is paying out a low and conservative percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. It's definitely not great to see earnings falling, but at least there may be some buffer before the dividend needs to be cut. Overall, it's hard to get excited about Fletcher Building from a dividend perspective.
With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 2 warning signs with Fletcher Building and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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.
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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