Yahoo Finance Why It Might Not Make Sense To Buy Rathbone Brothers Plc (LON:RAT) For Its Upcoming Dividend
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Rathbone Brothers Plc (LON:RAT) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. You will need to purchase shares before the 22nd of April to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 11th of May.
Rathbone Brothers's next dividend payment will be UK£0.47 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of UK£0.72 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Rathbone Brothers has a trailing yield of 4.0% on the current share price of £18.2. 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! That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
View our latest analysis for Rathbone Brothers
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Rathbone Brothers paid out 145% of profit in the past year, which we think is typically not sustainable unless there are mitigating characteristics such as unusually strong cash flow or a large cash balance.
When a company pays out a dividend that is not well covered by profits, the dividend is generally seen as more vulnerable to being cut.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Rathbone Brothers's earnings per share have dropped 13% a year over the past five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, Rathbone Brothers has lifted its dividend by approximately 5.0% a year on average. The only way to pay higher dividends when earnings are shrinking is either to pay out a larger percentage of profits, spend cash from the balance sheet, or borrow the money. Rathbone Brothers is already paying out a high percentage of its income, so without earnings growth, we're doubtful of whether this dividend will grow much in the future.
To Sum It Up
Is Rathbone Brothers an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Earnings per share are in decline and Rathbone Brothers is paying out what we feel is an uncomfortably high percentage of its profit as dividends. It's not that we hate the business, but we feel that these characeristics are not desirable for investors seeking a reliable dividend stock to own for the long term. These characteristics don't generally lead to outstanding dividend performance, and investors may not be happy with the results of owning this stock for its dividend.
Having said that, if you're looking at this stock without much concern for the dividend, you should still be familiar of the risks involved with Rathbone Brothers. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Rathbone Brothers that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.
If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top 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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