Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings Limited (HKG:423) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three 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 because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Therefore, if you purchase Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings' shares on or after the 18th of August, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 9th of September.
The company's upcoming dividend is HK$0.065 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of HK$0.095 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings stock has a trailing yield of around 7.8% on the current share price of HK$1.22. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings
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. Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings distributed an unsustainably high 124% of its profit as dividends to shareholders last year. Without extenuating circumstances, we'd consider the dividend at risk of a cut. 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. It paid out 85% of its free cash flow as dividends, which is within usual limits but will limit the company's ability to lift the dividend if there's no growth.
It's good to see that while Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings's dividends were not covered by profits, at least they are affordable from a cash perspective. If executives were to continue paying more in dividends than the company reported in profits, we'd view this as a warning sign. Very few companies are able to sustainably pay dividends larger than their reported earnings.
Click here to see how much of its profit Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings paid out over the last 12 months.
SEHK:423 Historic Dividend August 14th 2022
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. 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 Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings, with earnings per share up 2.8% on average over the last five years.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings's dividend payments per share have declined at 7.6% per year on average over the past 10 years, which is uninspiring. Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings is a rare case where dividends have been decreasing at the same time as earnings per share have been improving. It's unusual to see, and could point to unstable conditions in the core business, or more rarely an intensified focus on reinvesting profits.
Final Takeaway
Is Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? While earnings per share have been growing slowly, Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings is paying out an uncomfortably high percentage of its earnings. However it did pay out a lower percentage of its cashflow. It's not the most attractive proposition from a dividend perspective, and we'd probably give this one a miss for now.
So if you're still interested in Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings despite it's poor dividend qualities, you should be well informed on some of the risks facing this stock. Our analysis shows 3 warning signs for Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings that we strongly recommend you have a look at before investing in the company.
Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
香港经济时报集团有限公司(HKG:423)股票将在三天后进行除股息交易。通常,除息日期是记录日期之前的一个工作日,记录日期是公司确定有资格获得股息的股东的日期。除息日期很重要,因为股票的任何交易都需要在记录日期之前结算,才有资格获得股息。因此,如果你在8月18日或之后购买香港经济时报控股公司的股票,你将没有资格在9月9日支付股息时获得股息。
该公司即将派发的股息为每股0.065港元,此前该公司在过去12个月共向股东派发了每股0.095港元的股息。根据过去一年的支付金额,香港经济时报控股有限公司股票的往绩收益率约为7.8%,目前股价为1.22港元。如果你收购这项业务是为了它的股息,你应该对香港经济时报控股的股息是否可靠和可持续有所了解。因此,我们需要检查股息支付是否得到覆盖,以及收益是否在增长。
查看我们对香港经济时报控股有限公司的最新分析
股息通常从公司收入中支付,因此,如果一家公司支付的股息超过了它的收入,它的股息通常被削减的风险更高。香港经济时报控股有限公司去年将其利润的124%作为股息分配给了股东,这是一个不可持续的高水平。如果没有情有可原的情况,我们会考虑削减股息的风险。然而,在评估股息可持续性时,现金流通常比利润更重要,因此我们应该始终检查公司是否产生了足够的现金来支付股息。它支付了85%的自由现金流作为股息,这在通常的限制之内,但如果没有增长,将限制公司提高股息的能力。
令人欣慰的是,尽管香港经济时报控股有限公司的股息没有被利润覆盖,但至少从现金的角度来看,他们是负担得起的。如果高管支付的股息继续高于公司公布的利润,我们会认为这是一个警告信号。很少有公司能够持续支付高于其公布收益的股息。
点击这里查看香港经济时报控股公司在过去12个月中支付了多少利润。
联交所:423历史股息2022年8月14日
盈利和股息一直在增长吗?
每股收益持续增长的公司通常会获得最好的股息股票,因为它们通常会发现更容易增加每股股息。如果收益下降,该公司被迫削减股息,投资者可能会眼睁睁地看着他们的投资价值化为乌有。考虑到这一点,我们对香港经济时报控股公司的稳定增长感到鼓舞,过去五年,该公司每股收益平均增长2.8%。
许多投资者将通过评估一家公司的股息支付随着时间的推移发生了多大变化来评估公司的股息表现。过去10年,香港经济时报控股的每股派息平均每年下降7.6%,这并不令人振奋。香港经济时报控股有限公司是一个罕见的案例,它的股息一直在下降,而每股收益却一直在改善。这是不寻常的,可能表明核心业务状况不稳定,或者更罕见的是,对利润再投资的关注加剧。
最终外卖
香港经济时报控股公司是一只有吸引力的股息股票,还是更好地被搁置?尽管每股收益增长缓慢,但香港经济时报控股有限公司支付的股息占其收益的比例高得令人不安。然而,它确实支付了较低比例的现金流。从分红的角度来看,这不是最具吸引力的提议,目前我们可能不会对这一提议抱有期望。
因此,如果你仍然对香港经济时报控股公司感兴趣,尽管它的股息质量很差,你应该很清楚这只股票面临的一些风险。我们的分析显示香港经济时报控股有限公司的3个警告信号我们强烈建议你在投资公司之前先看一看。
一般来说,我们不会建议只购买你看到的第一批股息股票。这是这是一份精心挑选的股息支付强劲的有趣股票的名单。
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本文由Simply Wall St.撰写,具有概括性。我们仅使用不偏不倚的方法提供基于历史数据和分析师预测的评论,我们的文章并不打算作为财务建议。它不构成买卖任何股票的建议,也没有考虑你的目标或你的财务状况。我们的目标是为您带来由基本面数据驱动的长期重点分析。请注意,我们的分析可能不会将最新的对价格敏感的公司公告或定性材料考虑在内。Simply Wall St.对上述任何一只股票都没有持仓。