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Keyware Technologies NV (EBR:KEYW) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 3 days time. You will need to purchase shares before the 11th of September to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 13th of September.
Keyware Technologies's upcoming dividend is €0.028 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of €0.06 per share to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Keyware Technologies has a trailing yield of approximately 6.5% on its current stock price of €0.93. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Keyware Technologies
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. Its dividend payout ratio is 89% of profit, which means the company is paying out a majority of its earnings. The relatively limited profit reinvestment could slow the rate of future earnings growth We'd be concerned if earnings began to decline. 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. Dividends consumed 63% of the company's free cash flow last year, which is within a normal range for most dividend-paying organisations.
It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.
Click here to see how much of its profit Keyware Technologies paid out over the last 12 months.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Keyware Technologies's earnings per share have dropped 8.3% a year over the past five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Keyware Technologies has delivered 14% dividend growth per year on average over the past 3 years. The only way to pay higher dividends when earnings are shrinking is either to pay out a larger percentage of profits, spend cash from the balance sheet, or borrow the money. Keyware Technologies is already paying out a high percentage of its income, so without earnings growth, we're doubtful of whether this dividend will grow much in the future.