Don't Buy Quilicura S.A. (SNSE:QUILICURA) For Its Next Dividend Without Doing These Checks

Simply Wall St · 3d ago

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Quilicura S.A. (SNSE:QUILICURA) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is two business days before a company's record date in most cases, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. This means that investors who purchase Quilicura's shares on or after the 15th of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 20th of May.

The company's upcoming dividend is CL$19.00 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of CL$19.00 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Quilicura has a trailing yield of 1.7% on the current stock price of CL$1109.00. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Quilicura's dividend is reliable and sustainable. As a result, readers should always check whether Quilicura has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free.

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. Quilicura's dividend is not well covered by earnings, as the company lost money last year. This is not a sustainable state of affairs, so it would be worth investigating if earnings are expected to recover. Quilicura 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.

See our latest analysis for Quilicura

Click here to see how much of its profit Quilicura paid out over the last 12 months.

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SNSE:QUILICURA Historic Dividend May 10th 2025

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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Quilicura reported a loss last year, but at least the general trend suggests its income has been improving over the past five years. Even so, an unprofitable company whose business does not quickly recover is usually not a good candidate for dividend investors.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Quilicura has delivered 11% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 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.

We update our analysis on Quilicura every 24 hours, so you can always get the latest insights on its financial health, here.

To Sum It Up

Has Quilicura got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? At best we would put it on a watch-list to see if business conditions improve, as it doesn't look like a clear opportunity right now.

So if you want to do more digging on Quilicura, you'll find it worthwhile knowing the risks that this stock faces. To help with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Quilicura that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.

If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.