Yahoo Finance Should Income Investors Look At FW Thorpe Plc (LON:TFW) Before Its Ex-Dividend?
Readers hoping to buy FW Thorpe Plc (LON:TFW) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. You can purchase shares before the 29th of October in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 26th of November.
FW Thorpe's upcoming dividend is UK£0.042 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of UK£0.057 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that FW Thorpe has a trailing yield of 1.9% on the current share price of £2.92. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether FW Thorpe's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
See our latest analysis for FW Thorpe
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. FW Thorpe paid out a comfortable 49% of its profit last year. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether FW Thorpe generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Dividends consumed 61% of the company's free cash flow last year, which is within a normal range for most dividend-paying organisations.
It's positive to see that FW Thorpe's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.
Click here to see how much of its profit FW Thorpe 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. This is why it's a relief to see FW Thorpe earnings per share are up 2.5% per annum over the last five years. Earnings per share growth has been slim, and the company is already paying out a majority of its earnings. While there is some room to both increase the payout ratio and reinvest in the business, generally the higher a payout ratio goes, the lower a company's prospects for future growth.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the last 10 years, FW Thorpe has lifted its dividend by approximately 13% a year on average. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.
The Bottom Line
Is FW Thorpe an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Earnings per share growth has been modest, and it's interesting that FW Thorpe is paying out less than half of its earnings and more than half its cash flow to shareholders in the form of dividends. Overall, it's not a bad combination, but we feel that there are likely more attractive dividend prospects out there.
While it's tempting to invest in FW Thorpe for the dividends alone, you should always be mindful of the risks involved. For example - FW Thorpe has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
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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