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Readers hoping to buy Mandarin Oriental International Limited (SGX:M04) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Thus, you can purchase Mandarin Oriental International's shares before the 17th of August in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 11th of October.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.015 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.03 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Mandarin Oriental International has a trailing yield of 1.8% on the current stock price of $1.67. 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 Mandarin Oriental International has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
See our latest analysis for Mandarin Oriental International
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. Mandarin Oriental International reported a loss last year, so it's not great to see that it has continued paying a dividend.
Click here to see how much of its profit Mandarin Oriental International paid out over the last 12 months.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Mandarin Oriental International reported a loss last year, and the general trend suggests its earnings have also been declining in recent years, making us wonder if the dividend is at risk.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Mandarin Oriental International's dividend payments per share have declined at 8.1% per year on average over the past 10 years, which is uninspiring. It's never nice to see earnings and dividends falling, but at least management has cut the dividend rather than potentially risk the company's health in an attempt to maintain it.