Yahoo Finance Dividend Investors: Don't Be Too Quick To Buy Cineplex Inc. (TSE:CGX) For Its Upcoming Dividend
It looks like Cineplex Inc. (TSE:CGX) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 29th of August will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 30th of September.
Cineplex's next dividend payment will be CA$0.15 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of CA$1.80 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Cineplex stock has a trailing yield of around 7.4% on the current share price of CA$24.29. 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! We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Cineplex
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Cineplex paid out a disturbingly high 224% of its profit as dividends last year, which makes us concerned there's something we don't fully understand in the business. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. It paid out 84% of its free cash flow as dividends, which is within usual limits but will limit the company's ability to lift the dividend if there's no growth.
It's good to see that while Cineplex's dividends were not covered by profits, at least they are affordable from a cash perspective. If executives were to continue paying more in dividends than the company reported in profits, we'd view this as a warning sign. Extraordinarily few companies are capable of persistently paying a dividend that is greater than their profits.
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 earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Cineplex's earnings per share have fallen at approximately 10% a year over the previous 5 years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the past 10 years, Cineplex has increased its dividend at approximately 3.6% a year on average. 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. Cineplex 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
Is Cineplex an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Earnings per share have been in decline, which is not encouraging. Additionally, Cineplex is paying out quite a high percentage of its earnings, and more than half its cash flow, so it's hard to evaluate whether the company is reinvesting enough in its business to improve its situation. It's not that we think Cineplex is a bad company, but these characteristics don't generally lead to outstanding dividend performance.
Ever wonder what the future holds for Cineplex? 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.
