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Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. You will need to purchase shares before the 22nd of August to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 18th of October.
Cohu's next dividend payment will be US$0.06 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.24 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Cohu has a trailing yield of 1.9% on the current share price of $12.71. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Cohu's dividend is reliable and sustainable. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
View our latest analysis for Cohu
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Cohu reported a loss after tax last year, which means it's paying a dividend despite being unprofitable. While this might be a one-off event, this is unlikely to be sustainable in the long term. With the recent loss, it's important to check if the business generated enough cash to pay its dividend. If Cohu didn't generate enough cash to pay the dividend, then it must have either paid from cash in the bank or by borrowing money, neither of which is sustainable in the long term. Dividends consumed 68% of the company's free cash flow last year, which is within a normal range for most dividend-paying organisations.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Cohu 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.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. It looks like the Cohu dividends are largely the same as they were ten years ago. When earnings are declining yet the dividends are flat, typically the company is either paying out a higher portion of its earnings, or paying out of cash or debt on the balance sheet, neither of which is ideal.
Get our latest analysis on Cohu's balance sheet health here.