Yahoo Finance Here's Why We're Wary Of Buying United Utilities Group's (LON:UU.) For Its Upcoming Dividend
United Utilities Group PLC (LON:UU.) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Accordingly, United Utilities Group investors that purchase the stock on or after the 24th of June will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 2nd of August.
The company's next dividend payment will be UK£0.29 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of UK£0.43 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that United Utilities Group has a trailing yield of 4.2% on the current share price of £10.23. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether United Utilities Group's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
Check out our latest analysis for United Utilities Group
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. United Utilities Group is paying out an acceptable 65% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. 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 past year it paid out 136% of its free cash flow as dividends, which is uncomfortably high. It's hard to consistently pay out more cash than you generate without either borrowing or using company cash, so we'd wonder how the company justifies this payout level.
United Utilities Group 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 United Utilities Group 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. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at United Utilities Group, with earnings per share up 2.7% on average over the last five years. Earnings have been growing somewhat, 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. United Utilities Group has delivered 3.7% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.
To Sum It Up
Should investors buy United Utilities Group for the upcoming dividend? United Utilities Group is paying out a reasonable percentage of its income and an uncomfortably high 136% of its cash flow as dividends. At least earnings per share have been growing steadily. It's not the most attractive proposition from a dividend perspective, and we'd probably give this one a miss for now.
So if you're still interested in United Utilities Group despite it's poor dividend qualities, you should be well informed on some of the risks facing this stock. Our analysis shows 4 warning signs for United Utilities Group that we strongly recommend you have a look at before investing in the company.
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.
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. 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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