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KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next three days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 18th of February will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 2nd of March.
KLA's upcoming dividend is US$0.90 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$3.60 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, KLA has a trailing yield of 1.1% on the current stock price of $331.81. 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! So we need to investigate whether KLA can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
See our latest analysis for KLA
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. KLA paid out a comfortable 40% of its profit last year. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether KLA generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 31% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.
It's positive to see that KLA'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?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. That's why it's comforting to see KLA's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 31% per annum for the past five years. KLA is paying out less than half its earnings and cash flow, while simultaneously growing earnings per share at a rapid clip. This is a very favourable combination that can often lead to the dividend multiplying over the long term, if earnings grow and the company pays out a higher percentage of its earnings.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the past 10 years, KLA has increased its dividend at approximately 20% a year on average. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.