Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) Looks Like A Good Stock, And It's Going Ex-Dividend Soon

It looks like Crown Holdings, Inc. ( NYSE:CCK ) is about to go ex-dividend in the next four days. You can purchase shares before the 5th of May in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 20th of May.

The upcoming dividend for Crown Holdings is US$0.20 per share. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Crown Holdings's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

See our latest analysis for Crown Holdings

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Crown Holdings is paying out just 3.8% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Crown Holdings generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Luckily it paid out just 2.9% of its free cash flow last year.

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.

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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 business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. For this reason, we're glad to see Crown Holdings's earnings per share have risen 13% per annum over the last five years. Earnings per share have been growing rapidly and the company is retaining a majority of its earnings within the business. Fast-growing businesses that are reinvesting heavily are enticing from a dividend perspective, especially since they can often increase the payout ratio later.

This is Crown Holdings's first year of paying a dividend in a long time, which is exciting for shareholders - but it does mean there's no dividend history to examine.

The Bottom Line

Is Crown Holdings worth buying for its dividend? We love that Crown Holdings is growing earnings per share while simultaneously paying out a low percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. These characteristics suggest the company is reinvesting in growing its business, while the conservative payout ratio also implies a reduced risk of the dividend being cut in the future. There's a lot to like about Crown Holdings, and we would prioritise taking a closer look at it.

So while Crown Holdings looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Crown Holdings (2 shouldn't be ignored!) that you ought to be aware of before buying the shares.

We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting 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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