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Readers hoping to buy Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. Investors can purchase shares before the 11th of March in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of April.
Automatic Data Processing's upcoming dividend is US$0.93 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$3.72 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Automatic Data Processing has a trailing yield of 2.1% on the current stock price of $178.26. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Automatic Data Processing's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
See our latest analysis for Automatic Data Processing
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Automatic Data Processing is paying out an acceptable 63% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. It paid out more than half (62%) of its free cash flow in the past year, which is within an average range for most companies.
It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Fortunately for readers, Automatic Data Processing's earnings per share have been growing at 15% a year for the past five years. Automatic Data Processing has an average payout ratio which suggests a balance between growing earnings and rewarding shareholders. This is a reasonable combination that could hint at some further dividend increases in the future.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Automatic Data Processing has delivered an average of 11% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. It's great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.