3 Days Left Until Glanbia plc (ISE:GL9) Trades Ex-Dividend
Glanbia plc (ISE:GL9) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 22nd of August will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 4th of October.
Glanbia's next dividend payment will be €0.11 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of €0.25 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Glanbia has a trailing yield of 2.3% on the current share price of €10.81. 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 Glanbia can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
View our latest analysis for Glanbia
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. Fortunately Glanbia's payout ratio is modest, at just 34% of profit. 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. Over the last year it paid out 55% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual range for most companies.
It's positive to see that Glanbia's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.
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 decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Glanbia, with earnings per share up 7.8% on average over the last five years. While earnings have been growing at a credible rate, the company is paying out a majority of its earnings to shareholders. Therefore it's unlikely that the company will be able to reinvest heavily in its business, which could presage slower growth in the future.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Glanbia has delivered 15% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.
To Sum It Up
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Glanbia? Earnings per share growth has been modest, and it's interesting that Glanbia is paying out less than half of its earnings and more than half its cash flow to shareholders in the form of dividends. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about Glanbia from a dividend perspective.
Wondering what the future holds for Glanbia? See what the nine 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.
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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.
