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Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSE:CTC.A) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Thus, you can purchase Canadian Tire Corporation's shares before the 29th of July in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 1st of September.
The company's upcoming dividend is CA$1.18 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of CA$4.70 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Canadian Tire Corporation has a trailing yield of 2.4% on the current stock price of CA$195.5. 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! As a result, readers should always check whether Canadian Tire Corporation has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
View our latest analysis for Canadian Tire Corporation
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. That's why it's good to see Canadian Tire Corporation paying out a modest 31% of its earnings. 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. It paid out 15% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservatively low.
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 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. For this reason, we're glad to see Canadian Tire Corporation's earnings per share have risen 12% per annum over the last five years. The company has managed to grow earnings at a rapid rate, while reinvesting most of the profits within the business. This will make it easier to fund future growth efforts and we think this is an attractive combination - plus the dividend can always be increased later.