Yahoo Finance Here's What We Like About North American Palladium Ltd. (TSE:PDL)'s Upcoming Dividend
North American Palladium Ltd. (TSE:PDL) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 29th of August will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 15th of September.
North American Palladium's next dividend payment will be CA$0.45 per share, which looks like a nice increase on last year, when the company distributed a total of CA$0.40 to shareholders. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
See our latest analysis for North American Palladium
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. North American Palladium paid out just 4.6% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. It paid out 6.0% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservatively low.
It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.
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. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. That's why it's comforting to see North American Palladium's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 81% per annum for the past five years. With earnings per share growing rapidly and the company sensibly reinvesting almost all of its profits within the business, North American Palladium looks like a promising growth company.
Unfortunately North American Palladium has only been paying a dividend for a year or so, so there's not much of a history to draw insight from.
To Sum It Up
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid North American Palladium? North American Palladium has been growing earnings at a rapid rate, and has a conservatively low payout ratio, implying that it is reinvesting heavily in its business; a sterling combination. North American Palladium looks solid on this analysis overall, and we'd definitely consider investigating it more closely.
Wondering what the future holds for North American Palladium? See what the three analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
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.
