Yahoo Finance Read This Before Considering U.S. Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:USEG) For Its Upcoming US$0.022 Dividend
It looks like U.S. Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:USEG) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 3 days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. In other words, investors can purchase U.S. Energy's shares before the 5th of August in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 22nd of August.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.022 per share. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether U.S. Energy's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
Check out our latest analysis for U.S. Energy
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. U.S. Energy'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. U.S. Energy paid a dividend despite reporting negative free cash flow over the last twelve months. This may be due to heavy investment in the business, but this is still suboptimal from a dividend sustainability perspective.
Click here to see how much of its profit U.S. Energy paid out over the last 12 months.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. U.S. Energy 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.
This is U.S. Energy's first year of paying a dividend, so it doesn't have much of a history yet to compare to.
Remember, you can always get a snapshot of U.S. Energy's financial health, by checking our visualisation of its financial health, here.
To Sum It Up
Should investors buy U.S. Energy for the upcoming dividend? Overall, U.S. Energy looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.
With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. Be aware that U.S. Energy is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 4 of those are potentially serious...
A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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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