Yahoo Finance Income Investors Should Know That TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) is about to go ex-dividend in just two days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 20th of August, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 4th of September.
TE Connectivity's next dividend payment will be US$0.48 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.92 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, TE Connectivity has a trailing yield of 2.0% on the current stock price of $94.76. 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 TE Connectivity can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
View our latest analysis for TE Connectivity
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. TE Connectivity lost money last year, so the fact that it's paying a dividend is certainly disconcerting. There might be a good reason for this, but we'd want to look into it further before getting comfortable. Given that the company reported a loss last year, we now need to see if it generated enough free cash flow to fund the dividend. If cash earnings don't cover the dividend, the company would have to pay dividends out of cash in the bank, or by borrowing money, neither of which is long-term sustainable. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 40% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. TE Connectivity reported a loss last year, but at least the general trend suggests its income has been improving over the past five years. Even so, an unprofitable company whose business does not quickly recover is usually not a good candidate for dividend investors.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, TE Connectivity has lifted its dividend by approximately 12% a year on average. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.
We update our analysis on TE Connectivity every 24 hours, so you can always get the latest insights on its financial health, here.
Final Takeaway
Is TE Connectivity an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? We're a bit uncomfortable with it paying a dividend while being loss-making. However, we note that the dividend was covered by cash flow. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about TE Connectivity from a dividend perspective.
With that being said, if dividends aren't your biggest concern with TE Connectivity, you should know about the other risks facing this business. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with TE Connectivity (including 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable).
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.
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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