Yahoo Finance Be Sure To Check Out Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend
It looks like Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) is about to go ex-dividend in the next three days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 13th of May, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 15th of June.
Cintas's upcoming dividend is US$0.75 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$3.00 per share to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Cintas has a trailing yield of 0.8% on the current share price of $360.67. 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 investigate whether Cintas can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
See our latest analysis for Cintas
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Cintas paid out a comfortable 45% of its profit last year. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Fortunately, it paid out only 33% of its free cash flow in the past year.
It's positive to see that Cintas's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.
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 business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. It's encouraging to see Cintas has grown its earnings rapidly, up 22% a year for the past five years. Earnings per share have been growing very quickly, and the company is paying out a relatively low percentage of its profit and cash flow. This is a very favourable combination that can often lead to the dividend multiplying over the long term, if earnings grow and the company pays out a higher percentage of its earnings.
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, Cintas has lifted its dividend by approximately 20% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.
Final Takeaway
Is Cintas worth buying for its dividend? Cintas has been growing earnings at a rapid rate, and has a conservatively low payout ratio, implying that it is reinvesting heavily in its business; a sterling combination. Overall we think this is an attractive combination and worthy of further research.
While it's tempting to invest in Cintas for the dividends alone, you should always be mindful of the risks involved. To help with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Cintas that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.
We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting 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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