Consider This Before Buying FutureFuel Corp (NYSE:FF) For The 1.4% Dividend

A sizeable part of portfolio returns can be produced by dividend stocks due to their contribution to compounding returns in the long run. Historically, FutureFuel Corp (NYSE:FF) has been paying a dividend to shareholders. Today it yields 1.4%. Let’s dig deeper into whether FutureFuel should have a place in your portfolio.

Check out our latest analysis for FutureFuel

5 checks you should do on a dividend stock

If you are a dividend investor, you should always assess these five key metrics:

• Is it paying an annual yield above 75% of dividend payers?

• Does it consistently pay out dividends without missing a payment of significantly cutting payout?

• Has it increased its dividend per share amount over the past?

• Can it afford to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings?

• Will it have the ability to keep paying its dividends going forward?

NYSE:FF Historical Dividend Yield November 9th 18

How does FutureFuel fare?

The current trailing twelve-month payout ratio for the stock is 17%, which means that the dividend is covered by earnings. Furthermore, analysts have not forecasted a dividends per share for the future, which makes it hard to determine the yield shareholders should expect, and whether the current payout is sustainable, moving forward.

When assessing the forecast sustainability of a dividend it is also worth considering the cash flow of the business. Companies with strong cash flow can sustain a higher payout ratio, while companies with weaker cash flow generally cannot.

Reliablity is an important factor for dividend stocks, particularly for income investors who want a strong track record of payment and a positive outlook for future payout. Unfortunately, it is really too early to view FutureFuel as a dividend investment. It has only been consistently paying dividends for 9 years, however, standard practice for reliable payers is to look for a 10-year minimum track record.

Relative to peers, FutureFuel generates a yield of 1.4%, which is on the low-side for Chemicals stocks.

Next Steps:

Now you know to keep in mind the reason why investors should be careful investing in FutureFuel for the dividend. But if you are not exclusively a dividend investor, the stock could still be an interesting investment opportunity. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I recommend taking sufficient time to understand its core business and determine whether the company and its investment properties suit your overall goals. Below, I’ve compiled three important factors you should further research:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for FF’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for FF’s outlook.

2. Valuation: What is FF worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it’s not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether FF is currently mispriced by the market.

3. Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.