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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 Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Accordingly, Travel + Leisure investors that purchase the stock on or after the 14th of June will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 30th of June.
The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.40 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$1.60 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Travel + Leisure has a trailing yield of 3.1% on the current share price of $51.16. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
See our latest analysis for Travel + Leisure
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately Travel + Leisure's payout ratio is modest, at just 35% of profit. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Luckily it paid out just 20% of its free cash flow last year.
It's positive to see that Travel + Leisure'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?
Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Travel + Leisure, with earnings per share up 4.2% on average over the last five years. Recent growth has not been impressive. However, companies that see their growth slow can often choose to pay out a greater percentage of earnings to shareholders, which could see the dividend continue to rise.