Yahoo Finance We Wouldn't Be Too Quick To Buy Absolute Software Corporation (TSE:ABT) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend
It looks like Absolute Software Corporation (TSE:ABT) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. You can purchase shares before the 7th of August in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 29th of August.
Absolute Software's next dividend payment will be US$0.08 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.24 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Absolute Software has a trailing yield of 4.2% on the current stock price of CA$7.48. 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 Absolute Software can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
See our latest analysis for Absolute Software
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. Absolute Software paid out 119% of profit in the past year, which we think is typically not sustainable unless there are mitigating characteristics such as unusually strong cash flow or a large cash balance. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. It paid out 106% of its free cash flow in the form of dividends last year, which is outside the comfort zone for most businesses. Cash flows are usually much more volatile than earnings, so this could be a temporary effect - but we'd generally want look more closely here.
Absolute Software does have a large net cash position on the balance sheet, which could fund large dividends for a time, if the company so chose. Still, smart investors know that it is better to assess dividends relative to the cash and profit generated by the business. Paying dividends out of cash on the balance sheet is not long-term sustainable.
As Absolute Software's dividend was not well covered by either earnings or cash flow, we would be concerned that this dividend could be at risk over the long term.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
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. It's encouraging to see Absolute Software has grown its earnings rapidly, up 37% a year for the past five years. Earnings per share have been growing rapidly, but the company is paying out an uncomfortably high percentage of its earnings as dividends. Generally, when a company is growing this quickly and paying out all of its earnings as dividends, it can suggest either that the company is borrowing heavily to fund its growth, or that earnings growth is likely to slow due to lack of reinvestment.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the last 7 years, Absolute Software has lifted its dividend by approximately 2.9% a year on average. It's good to see both earnings and the dividend have improved - although the former has been rising much quicker than the latter, possibly due to the company reinvesting more of its profits in growth.
Final Takeaway
Should investors buy Absolute Software for the upcoming dividend? While it's nice to see earnings per share growing, we're curious about how Absolute Software intends to continue growing, or maintain the dividend in a downturn given that it's paying out such a high percentage of its earnings and cashflow. It's not an attractive combination from a dividend perspective, and we're inclined to pass on this one for the time being.
Curious what other investors think of Absolute Software? See what analysts are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow .
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.
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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. Thank you for reading.
