Yahoo News Do These 3 Checks Before Buying Computer And Technologies Holdings Limited (HKG:46) For Its Upcoming Dividend
It looks like Computer And Technologies Holdings Limited (HKG:46) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 3 days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 2nd of June, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 18th of June.
Computer And Technologies Holdings's next dividend payment will be HK$0.08 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed HK$0.17 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Computer And Technologies Holdings has a trailing yield of approximately 7.2% on its current stock price of HK$2.35. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. As a result, readers should always check whether Computer And Technologies Holdings has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
Check out our latest analysis for Computer And Technologies Holdings
Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. It paid out 75% of its earnings as dividends last year, which is not unreasonable, but limits reinvestment in the business and leaves the dividend vulnerable to a business downturn. We'd be worried about the risk of a drop in earnings. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Computer And Technologies Holdings generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Computer And Technologies Holdings paid out more free cash flow than it generated - 149%, to be precise - last year, which we think is concerningly high. It's hard to consistently pay out more cash than you generate without either borrowing or using company cash, so we'd wonder how the company justifies this payout level.
Computer And Technologies Holdings does have a large net cash position on the balance sheet, which could fund large dividends for a time, if the company so chose. Still, smart investors know that it is better to assess dividends relative to the cash and profit generated by the business. Paying dividends out of cash on the balance sheet is not long-term sustainable.
Computer And Technologies Holdings paid out less in dividends than it reported in profits, but unfortunately it didn't generate enough cash to cover the dividend. Were this to happen repeatedly, this would be a risk to Computer And Technologies Holdings's ability to maintain its dividend.
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 Computer And Technologies Holdings, with earnings per share up 2.2% on average over the last five years. Earnings have been growing somewhat, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Computer And Technologies Holdings has delivered 7.8% dividend growth per year on average over the past ten years. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.
To Sum It Up
Is Computer And Technologies Holdings an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Earnings per share have grown somewhat, although Computer And Technologies Holdings paid out over half its profits and the dividend was not well covered by free cash flow. Overall it doesn't look like the most suitable dividend stock for a long-term buy and hold investor.
So if you're still interested in Computer And Technologies Holdings despite it's poor dividend qualities, you should be well informed on some of the risks facing this stock. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Computer And Technologies Holdings you should know about.
A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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. Thank you for reading.
