Yahoo Finance Pearson plc (LON:PSON): Ex-Dividend Is In 2 Days
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Have you been keeping an eye on Pearson plc's (LON:PSON) upcoming dividend of UK£0.13 per share payable on the 10 May 2019? Then you only have 2 days left before the stock starts trading ex-dividend on the 04 April 2019. Is this future income a persuasive enough catalyst for investors to think about Pearson as an investment today? Below, I'm going to look at the latest data and analyze the stock and its dividend property in further detail.
View our latest analysis for Pearson
5 checks you should use to assess a dividend stock
When assessing a stock as a potential addition to my dividend Portfolio, I look at these five areas:
Is it paying an annual yield above 75% of dividend payers?
Has it paid dividend every year without dramatically reducing payout in the past?
Has dividend per share amount increased over the past?
Is is able to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings?
Based on future earnings growth, will it be able to continue to payout dividend at the current rate?
Does Pearson pass our checks?
The company currently pays out 24% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, meaning the dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. In the near future, analysts are predicting a higher payout ratio of 36% which, assuming the share price stays the same, leads to a dividend yield of around 2.6%. However, EPS is forecasted to fall to £0.30 in the upcoming year. Therefore, although payout is expected to increase, the fall in earnings may not equate to higher dividend income.
When considering the sustainability of dividends, it is also worth checking the cash flow of a company. Cash flow is important because companies with strong cash flow can usually sustain higher payout ratios.
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. Dividend payments from Pearson have been volatile in the past 10 years, with some years experiencing significant drops of over 25%. These characteristics do not bode well for income investors seeking reliable stream of dividends.
Relative to peers, Pearson generates a yield of 2.2%, which is on the low-side for Media stocks.
Next Steps:
If Pearson is in your portfolio for cash-generating reasons, there may be better alternatives out there. 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. There are three essential aspects you should further examine:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for PSON’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for PSON’s outlook.
Valuation: What is PSON 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 PSON is currently mispriced by the market.
Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.
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.
