Yahoo Finance We Wouldn't Be Too Quick To Buy Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (NASDAQ:BGFV) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend
Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (NASDAQ:BGFV) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three 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 Big 5 Sporting Goods' shares before the 7th of March in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 22nd of March.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.05 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.20 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Big 5 Sporting Goods stock has a trailing yield of around 4.3% on the current share price of US$4.70. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether Big 5 Sporting Goods has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
See our latest analysis for Big 5 Sporting Goods
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Big 5 Sporting Goods paid a dividend last year despite being unprofitable. This might be a one-off event, but it's not a sustainable state of affairs in the long run. Considering the lack of profitability, we also need to check if the company generated enough cash flow to cover the dividend payment. If Big 5 Sporting Goods didn't generate enough cash to pay the dividend, then it must have either paid from cash in the bank or by borrowing money, neither of which is sustainable in the long term. Over the last year, it paid out dividends equivalent to 263% of what it generated in free cash flow, a disturbingly high percentage. Our definition of free cash flow excludes cash generated from asset sales, so since Big 5 Sporting Goods is paying out such a high percentage of its cash flow, it might be worth seeing if it sold assets or had similar events that might have led to such a high dividend payment.
Click here to see how much of its profit Big 5 Sporting Goods paid out over the last 12 months.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Big 5 Sporting Goods reported a loss last year, but at least the general trend suggests its income has been improving over the past five years. Even so, an unprofitable company whose business does not quickly recover is usually not a good candidate for dividend investors.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Big 5 Sporting Goods has seen its dividend decline 6.7% per annum on average over the past 10 years, which is not great to see.
Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Big 5 Sporting Goods's financial health, by checking our visualisation of its financial health, here.
To Sum It Up
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Big 5 Sporting Goods? It's hard to get used to Big 5 Sporting Goods paying a dividend despite reporting a loss over the past year. Worse, the dividend was not well covered by cash flow. It's not an attractive combination from a dividend perspective, and we're inclined to pass on this one for the time being.
With that in mind though, if the poor dividend characteristics of Big 5 Sporting Goods don't faze you, it's worth being mindful of the risks involved with this business. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Big 5 Sporting Goods you should know about.
If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.
