Yahoo Finance Just 4 Days Before Mercury NZ Limited (NZSE:MCY) Will Be Trading Ex-Dividend
Mercury NZ Limited (NZSE:MCY) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. You can purchase shares before the 12th of September in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 30th of September.
Mercury NZ's upcoming dividend is NZ$0.11 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of NZ$0.15 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Mercury NZ has a trailing yield of 2.8% on the current share price of NZ$5.495. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to investigate whether Mercury NZ can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
Check out our latest analysis for Mercury NZ
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. Mercury NZ is paying out an acceptable 59% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Mercury NZ generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. It paid out 102% of its free cash flow in the form of dividends last year, which is outside the comfort zone for most businesses. Companies usually need cash more than they need earnings - expenses don't pay themselves - so it's not great to see it paying out so much of its cash flow.
Mercury NZ paid out less in dividends than it reported in profits, but unfortunately it didn't generate enough cash to cover the dividend. Cash is king, as they say, and were Mercury NZ to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign.
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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. For this reason, we're glad to see Mercury NZ's earnings per share have risen 11% 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.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Since the start of our data, 6 years ago, Mercury NZ has lifted its dividend by approximately 4.4% a year on average. It's good to see both earnings and the dividend have improved - although the former has been rising much quicker than the latter, possibly due to the company reinvesting more of its profits in growth.
Final Takeaway
Is Mercury NZ an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? It's good to see that earnings per share are growing and that the company's payout ratio is within a normal range for most businesses. However we're somewhat concerned that it paid out 102% of its cashflow, which is uncomfortably high. While it does have some good things going for it, we're a bit ambivalent and it would take more to convince us of Mercury NZ's dividend merits.
Wondering what the future holds for Mercury NZ? See what the six analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
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.
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If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
