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It looks like CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. Meaning, you will need to purchase CNO Financial Group's shares before the 9th of December to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 24th of December.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.13 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.52 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, CNO Financial Group has a trailing yield of 2.2% on the current stock price of $23.14. 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 CNO Financial Group has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
Check out our latest analysis for CNO Financial Group
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. CNO Financial Group paid out just 15% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances.
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 strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. That's why it's comforting to see CNO Financial Group's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 20% per annum for the past five years.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, CNO Financial Group has lifted its dividend by approximately 21% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.