Yahoo Finance Why You Might Be Interested In Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) For Its Upcoming Dividend
Readers hoping to buy Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 30th of August will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 27th of September.
Lockheed Martin's upcoming dividend is US$2.20 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$8.80 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Lockheed Martin stock has a trailing yield of around 2.3% on the current share price of $376.89. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Lockheed Martin
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. Lockheed Martin paid out a comfortable 42% of its profit last year. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. Over the last year it paid out 54% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual 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?
Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Fortunately for readers, Lockheed Martin's earnings per share have been growing at 18% a year for the past five years. Lockheed Martin is paying out a bit over half its earnings, which suggests the company is striking a balance between reinvesting in growth, and paying dividends. This is a reasonable combination that could hint at some 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. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, Lockheed Martin has lifted its dividend by approximately 14% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.
The Bottom Line
Should investors buy Lockheed Martin for the upcoming dividend? Earnings per share have grown at a nice rate in recent times and over the last year, Lockheed Martin paid out less than half its earnings and a bit over half its free cash flow. Lockheed Martin looks solid on this analysis overall, and we'd definitely consider investigating it more closely.
Wondering what the future holds for Lockheed Martin? See what the 18 analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising 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.
