Yahoo Finance We Wouldn't Be Too Quick To Buy Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend
Readers hoping to buy Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 20th of August will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 4th of September.
Microchip Technology's next dividend payment will be US$0.37 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.46 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Microchip Technology has a trailing yield of 1.7% on the current share price of $86.91. 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! We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
See our latest analysis for Microchip Technology
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Last year, Microchip Technology paid out 93% of its income as dividends, which is above a level that we're comfortable with, especially if the company needs to reinvest in its business. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. What's good is that dividends were well covered by free cash flow, with the company paying out 22% of its cash flow last year.
It's good to see that while Microchip Technology's dividends were not well covered by profits, at least they are affordable from a cash perspective. Still, if this were to happen repeatedly, we'd be concerned about whether the dividend is sustainable in a downturn.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. That's why it's not ideal to see Microchip Technology's earnings per share have been shrinking at 4.7% a year over the previous five years.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, Microchip Technology has increased its dividend at approximately 0.8% a year on average.
Final Takeaway
Should investors buy Microchip Technology for the upcoming dividend? It's not a great combination to see a company with earnings in decline and paying out 93% of its profits, which could imply the dividend may be at risk of being cut in the future. However, the cash payout ratio was much lower - good news from a dividend perspective - which makes us wonder why there is such a mis-match between income and cashflow. Overall it doesn't look like the most suitable dividend stock for a long-term buy and hold investor.
Curious what other investors think of Microchip Technology? 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.
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.
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.
