Yahoo Finance Dividend Investors: Don't Be Too Quick To Buy Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB) For Its Upcoming Dividend
It looks like Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 3 days. You can purchase shares before the 17th of October in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 19th of November.
Core Laboratories's next dividend payment will be US$0.6 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$2.2 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that Core Laboratories has a trailing yield of 5.0% on the current share price of $44.14. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
See our latest analysis for Core Laboratories
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. Last year Core Laboratories paid out 108% of its profits as dividends to shareholders, suggesting the dividend is not well covered by earnings. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. Over the past year it paid out 119% of its free cash flow as dividends, which is uncomfortably high. We're curious about why the company paid out more cash than it generated last year, since this can be one of the early signs that a dividend may be unsustainable.
Cash is slightly more important than profit from a dividend perspective, but given Core Laboratories's payouts were not well covered by either earnings or cash flow, we would be concerned about the sustainability of this dividend.
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 Core Laboratories's earnings per share have dropped 17% a year over the past five years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Core Laboratories has delivered 27% dividend growth per year on average over the past ten years. 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. Core Laboratories 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
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Core Laboratories? It's looking like an unattractive opportunity, with its earnings per share declining, while, paying out an uncomfortably high percentage of both its profits (108%) and cash flow (119%) as dividends. This is a clearly suboptimal combination that usually suggests the dividend is at risk of being cut. If not now, then perhaps in the future. With the way things are shaping up from a dividend perspective, we'd be inclined to steer clear of Core Laboratories.
Curious what other investors think of Core Laboratories? See what analysts 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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