Yahoo Finance There's A Lot To Like About Amdocs Limited's (NASDAQ:DOX) Upcoming US$0.33 Dividend
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Amdocs Limited (NASDAQ:DOX) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 30th of March will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 24th of April.
Amdocs's next dividend payment will be US$0.33 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.31 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Amdocs has a trailing yield of approximately 2.5% on its current stock price of $51.68. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Amdocs's dividend is reliable and sustainable. As a result, readers should always check whether Amdocs has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
Check out our latest analysis for Amdocs
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. Amdocs paid out a comfortable 31% 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. It distributed 27% of its free cash flow as dividends, a comfortable payout level for most companies.
It's positive to see that Amdocs'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?
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. This is why it's a relief to see Amdocs earnings per share are up 6.4% per annum over the last five years. The company is retaining more than half of its earnings within the business, and it has been growing earnings at a decent rate. We think this is generally an attractive combination, as dividends can grow through a combination of earnings growth and or a higher payout ratio over time.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Amdocs has delivered an average of 12% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past eight years of dividend payments. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.
To Sum It Up
Is Amdocs worth buying for its dividend? Earnings per share have been growing moderately, and Amdocs is paying out less than half its earnings and cash flow as dividends, which is an attractive combination as it suggests the company is investing in growth. It might be nice to see earnings growing faster, but Amdocs is being conservative with its dividend payouts and could still perform reasonably over the long run. Overall we think this is an attractive combination and worthy of further research.
With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Amdocs that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.
If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
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.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
