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Should Income Investors Look At Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) Before Its Ex-Dividend?

It looks like Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI) is about to go ex-dividend in the next four days. Investors can purchase shares before the 24th of September in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 15th of October.

Valmont Industries's upcoming dividend is US$0.45 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$1.80 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Valmont Industries has a trailing yield of 1.4% on the current share price of $125.44. 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.

Check out our latest analysis for Valmont Industries

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. Valmont Industries paid out just 25% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. What's good is that dividends were well covered by free cash flow, with the company paying out 14% of its cash flow last year.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

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historic-dividend

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks with flat earnings can still be attractive dividend payers, but it is important to be more conservative with your approach and demand a greater margin for safety when it comes to dividend sustainability. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. With that in mind, we're not enthused to see that Valmont Industries's earnings per share have remained effectively flat over the past five years. Better than seeing them fall off a cliff, for sure, but the best dividend stocks grow their earnings meaningfully over the long run.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Valmont Industries has delivered 12% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years.

The Bottom Line

Should investors buy Valmont Industries for the upcoming dividend? While it's not great to see that earnings per share are effectively flat over the 10-year period we checked, at least the payout ratios are low and conservative. In summary, while it has some positive characteristics, we're not inclined to race out and buy Valmont Industries today.

With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. To help with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Valmont Industries that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.

We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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.

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