Have you been keeping an eye on Centamin plc's (LON:CEY) upcoming dividend of US$0.03 per share payable on the 13 May 2019? Then you only have 3 days left before the stock starts trading ex-dividend on the 18 April 2019. Is this future income stream a compelling catalyst for dividend investors to think about the stock as an investment today? Let's take a look at Centamin's most recent financial data to examine its dividend characteristics in more detail.
View our latest analysis for Centamin
5 questions I ask before picking a dividend stock
When researching a dividend stock, I always follow the following screening criteria:
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Is their annual yield among the top 25% of dividend payers?
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Has it paid dividend every year without dramatically reducing payout in the past?
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Has dividend per share risen in the past couple of years?
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Is its earnings sufficient to payout dividend at the current rate?
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Will the company be able to keep paying dividend based on the future earnings growth?
How well does Centamin fit our criteria?
The company currently pays out 85% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, meaning the dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. In the near future, analysts are predicting a payout ratio of 87% which, assuming the share price stays the same, leads to a dividend yield of around 6.3%. In addition to this, EPS is forecasted to fall to $0.058 in the upcoming year.
When thinking about whether a dividend is sustainable, another factor to consider is the cash flow. Companies with strong cash flow can sustain a higher payout ratio, while companies with weaker cash flow generally cannot.
If dividend is a key criteria in your investment consideration, then you need to make sure the dividend stock you're eyeing out is reliable in its payments. The reality is that it is too early to consider Centamin as a dividend investment. It has only been consistently paying dividends for 5 years, however, standard practice for reliable payers is to look for a 10-year minimum track record.
Relative to peers, Centamin has a yield of 4.8%, which is on the low-side for Metals and Mining stocks.
Next Steps:
If you are building an income portfolio, then Centamin is a complicated choice since it has some positive aspects as well as negative ones. But if you are not exclusively a dividend investor, the stock could still be an interesting investment opportunity. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, you should always research extensively before deciding whether or not a stock is an appropriate investment for you. I always recommend analysing the company's fundamentals and underlying business before making an investment decision. Below, I've compiled three essential factors you should further research: