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Provident Financial plc (LON:PFG) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. 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. 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 Provident Financial's shares before the 21st of April in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 20th of May.
The company's next dividend payment will be UK£0.12 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed UK£0.12 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Provident Financial has a trailing yield of approximately 4.4% on its current stock price of £2.75. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
View our latest analysis for Provident Financial
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Provident Financial has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 22% of its income after tax.
Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
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. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Provident Financial's earnings per share have dropped 22% 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. Provident Financial's dividend payments per share have declined at 16% 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.
To Sum It Up
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Provident Financial? Earnings per share have shrunk noticeably in recent years, although we like that the company has a low payout ratio. This could suggest a cut to the dividend may not be a major risk in the near future. We're unconvinced on the company's merits, and think there might be better opportunities out there.