Yahoo Finance Only Two Days Left To Cash In On Taitron Components' (NASDAQ:TAIT) Dividend
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 Taitron Components Incorporated (NASDAQ:TAIT) is about to go ex-dividend in just 2 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 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 Taitron Components' shares before the 11th of August in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 31st of August.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.045 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.18 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Taitron Components has a trailing yield of approximately 4.6% on its current stock price of $3.8745. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Taitron Components's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
See our latest analysis for Taitron Components
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. Taitron Components paid out a comfortable 27% of its profit last year. 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. Over the last year, it paid out dividends equivalent to 354% of what it generated in free cash flow, a disturbingly high percentage. Our definition of free cash flow excludes cash generated from asset sales, so since Taitron Components is paying out such a high percentage of its cash flow, it might be worth seeing if it sold assets or had similar events that might have led to such a high dividend payment.
Taitron Components does have a large net cash position on the balance sheet, which could fund large dividends for a time, if the company so chose. Still, smart investors know that it is better to assess dividends relative to the cash and profit generated by the business. Paying dividends out of cash on the balance sheet is not long-term sustainable.
Taitron Components 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 Taitron Components to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign.
Click here to see how much of its profit Taitron Components paid out over the last 12 months.
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 decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. It's encouraging to see Taitron Components has grown its earnings rapidly, up 54% a year for the past five years. Earnings have been growing quickly, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Taitron Components has delivered 10% dividend growth per year on average over the past six years. It's great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.
Final Takeaway
Is Taitron Components worth buying for its dividend? We like that Taitron Components has been successfully growing its earnings per share at a nice rate and reinvesting most of its profits in the business. However, we note the high cashflow payout ratio with some concern. To summarise, Taitron Components looks okay on this analysis, although it doesn't appear a stand-out opportunity.
So while Taitron Components looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Taitron Components (1 is significant) you should be aware of.
If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.
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.
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