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Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that CSG Systems International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGS) is about to go ex-dividend in just 3 days. You can purchase shares before the 12th of September in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 27th of September.
CSG Systems International's next dividend payment will be US$0.22 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.89 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, CSG Systems International stock has a trailing yield of around 1.7% on the current share price of $53.68. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether CSG Systems International's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
Check out our latest analysis for CSG Systems International
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. CSG Systems International paid out a comfortable 37% of its profit last year. 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. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 29% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.
It's positive to see that CSG Systems International's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Fortunately for readers, CSG Systems International's earnings per share have been growing at 11% a year for the past five years. Earnings per share are growing rapidly and the company is keeping more than half of its earnings within the business; an attractive combination which could suggest the company is focused on reinvesting to grow earnings further. 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.