Is It Worth Considering Park Group plc (LON:PARK) For Its Upcoming Dividend?
It looks like Park Group plc (LON:PARK) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 3 days. You will need to purchase shares before the 22nd of August to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of October.
Park Group's upcoming dividend is UK£0.021 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of UK£0.032 per share to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Park Group has a trailing yield of 5.1% on the current share price of £0.625. 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.
See our latest analysis for Park Group
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Park Group paid out more than half (67%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies.
Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.
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 decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. This is why it's a relief to see Park Group earnings per share are up 2.8% per annum over the last five years.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, Park Group has increased its dividend at approximately 9.9% a year on average. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.
The Bottom Line
Is Park Group an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Earnings per share have been growing at a reasonable rate, and the company is paying out a bit over half its earnings as dividends. In sum this is a middling combination, and we find it hard to get excited about the company from a dividend perspective.
Ever wonder what the future holds for Park Group? See what the two analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
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.
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.
