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Readers hoping to buy Zotefoams plc (LON:ZTF) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 12th of September will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 10th of October.
Zotefoams's next dividend payment will be UK£0.02 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of UK£0.061 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Zotefoams has a trailing yield of 1.1% on the current share price of £5.4. 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! So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
See our latest analysis for Zotefoams
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Zotefoams paid out a comfortable 36% of its profit last year. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend.
Zotefoams paid a dividend despite reporting negative free cash flow over the last twelve months. This may be due to heavy investment in the business, but this is still suboptimal from a dividend sustainability perspective.
It's positive to see that Zotefoams'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?
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. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Fortunately for readers, Zotefoams's earnings per share have been growing at 17% a year for the past five years.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Zotefoams has delivered 3.1% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. It's good to see both earnings and the dividend have improved - although the former has been rising much quicker than the latter, possibly due to the company reinvesting more of its profits in growth.