On the 25 June 2018, Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services Company Limited (SEHK:2666) will be paying shareholders an upcoming dividend amount of CN¥0.24 per share. However, investors must have bought the company’s stock before 07 June 2018 in order to qualify for the payment. That means you have only 2 days left! Investors looking for higher income-generating stocks to add to their portfolio should keep reading, as I take a deeper dive into Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services’s latest financial data to analyse its dividend attributes. View our latest analysis for Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services

5 questions I ask before picking a dividend stock

When researching a dividend stock, I always follow the following screening criteria:

• Is it the top 25% annual dividend yield payer?

• Has it consistently paid a stable dividend without missing a payment or drastically cutting payout?

• Has dividend per share amount increased over the past?

• Is its earnings sufficient to payout dividend at the current rate?

• Will it have the ability to keep paying its dividends going forward?

Does Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services pass our checks?

The company currently pays out 29.86% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, which means that the dividend is covered by earnings. In the near future, analysts are predicting a payout ratio of 27.13%, leading to a dividend yield of 4.58%. In addition to this, EPS should increase to CN¥0.81. Reliablity is an important factor for dividend stocks, particularly for income investors who want a strong track record of payment and a positive outlook for future payout. Unfortunately, it is really too early to view Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services as a dividend investment. It has only been consistently paying dividends for 2 years, however, standard practice for reliable payers is to look for a 10-year minimum track record. In terms of its peers, Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services generates a yield of 3.36%, which is high for Healthcare stocks but still below the market’s top dividend payers.

Next Steps:

Whilst there are few things you may like about Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services from a dividend stock perspective, the truth is that overall it probably is not the best choice for a dividend investor. However, if you are not strictly just a dividend investor, the stock could still offer some interesting investment opportunities. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I recommend taking sufficient time to understand its core business and determine whether the company and its investment properties suit your overall goals. Below, I’ve compiled three pertinent aspects you should look at:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 2666’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 2666’s outlook.

2. Historical Performance: What has 2666’s returns been like over the past? Go into more detail in the past track record analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of our analysis for more clarity.

3. Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.

To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.