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Why You Might Be Interested In ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE:ACCO) For Its Upcoming Dividend

Readers hoping to buy ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE:ACCO) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. You can purchase shares before the 25th of August in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 18th of September.

ACCO Brands's next dividend payment will be US$0.065 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.26 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that ACCO Brands has a trailing yield of 3.8% on the current share price of $6.8. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

Check out our latest analysis for ACCO Brands

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately ACCO Brands's payout ratio is modest, at just 29% 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 11% of its free cash flow last year.

It's positive to see that ACCO Brands'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.

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historic-dividend

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies that aren't growing their earnings can still be valuable, but it is even more important to assess the sustainability of the dividend if it looks like the company will struggle to grow. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. With that in mind, we're not enthused to see that ACCO Brands's earnings per share have remained effectively flat over the past five years. It's better than seeing them drop, certainly, but over the long term, all of the best dividend stocks are able to meaningfully grow their earnings per share. 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.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, three years ago, ACCO Brands has lifted its dividend by approximately 2.7% a year on average.

Final Takeaway

Should investors buy ACCO Brands for the upcoming dividend? The company has barely grown earnings per share over this time, but at least it's paying out a decently low percentage of its earnings and cashflow as dividends. This could suggest management is reinvesting in future growth opportunities. We would prefer to see earnings growing faster, but the best dividend stocks over the long term typically combine strong earnings per share growth with a low payout ratio, and ACCO Brands is halfway there. There's a lot to like about ACCO Brands, and we would prioritise taking a closer look at it.

While it's tempting to invest in ACCO Brands for the dividends alone, you should always be mindful of the risks involved. For example - ACCO Brands has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

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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