Yahoo Finance Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon
Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. In other words, investors can purchase Kimberly-Clark's shares before the 3rd of June in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 2nd of July.
The company's upcoming dividend is US$1.14 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$4.56 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Kimberly-Clark has a trailing yield of 3.5% on the current stock price of $130.63. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! So we need to investigate whether Kimberly-Clark can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
View our latest analysis for Kimberly-Clark
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. Kimberly-Clark paid out more than half (65%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for 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. It paid out more than half (67%) of its free cash flow in the past year, which is within an average range for most companies.
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?
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 fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Fortunately for readers, Kimberly-Clark's earnings per share have been growing at 19% a year for the past five years. Kimberly-Clark is paying out a bit over half its earnings, which suggests the company is striking a balance between reinvesting in growth, and paying dividends. Given the quick rate of earnings per share growth and current level of payout, there may be a chance of further dividend increases in the future.
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, Kimberly-Clark has lifted its dividend by approximately 5.6% a year on average. It's good to see both earnings and the dividend have improved - although the former has been rising much quicker than the latter, possibly due to the company reinvesting more of its profits in growth.
Final Takeaway
Should investors buy Kimberly-Clark for the upcoming dividend? It's good to see earnings are growing, since all of the best dividend stocks grow their earnings meaningfully over the long run. However, we'd also note that Kimberly-Clark is paying out more than half of its earnings and cash flow as profits, which could limit the dividend growth if earnings growth slows. In summary, it's hard to get excited about Kimberly-Clark from a dividend perspective.
With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Kimberly-Clark you should know about.
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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