Yahoo Finance Interested In Altius Minerals' (TSE:ALS) Upcoming CA$0.05 Dividend? You Have Two Days Left
Altius Minerals Corporation (TSE:ALS) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 2 days. Investors can purchase shares before the 18th of March in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 31st of March.
Altius Minerals's upcoming dividend is CA$0.05 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of CA$0.20 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Altius Minerals has a trailing yield of 1.2% on the current share price of CA$16.73. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Altius Minerals's dividend is reliable and sustainable. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
See our latest analysis for Altius Minerals
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. Altius Minerals's dividend is not well covered by earnings, as the company lost money last year. This is not a sustainable state of affairs, so it would be worth investigating if earnings are expected to recover. With the recent loss, it's important to check if the business generated enough cash to pay its 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. It distributed 38% of its free cash flow as dividends, a comfortable payout level for most companies.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Altius Minerals was unprofitable last year, but at least the general trend suggests its earnings have 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.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Altius Minerals has delivered 16% dividend growth per year on average over the past six years. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.
Get our latest analysis on Altius Minerals's balance sheet health here.
Final Takeaway
Is Altius Minerals an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? It's hard to get used to Altius Minerals paying a dividend despite reporting a loss over the past year. At least the dividend was covered by free cash flow, however. Overall, it's hard to get excited about Altius Minerals from a dividend perspective.
With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for Altius Minerals you should be aware of.
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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