Readers hoping to buy Teck Guan Perdana Berhad (KLSE:TECGUAN) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. The ex-dividend date is commonly two business days before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. 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. Therefore, if you purchase Teck Guan Perdana Berhad's shares on or after the 10th of July, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 5th of August.
The company's upcoming dividend is RM00.05 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of RM0.05 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Teck Guan Perdana Berhad has a trailing yield of 2.7% on the current share price of RM01.88. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether Teck Guan Perdana Berhad has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Teck Guan Perdana Berhad is paying out just 6.9% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events. 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. Teck Guan Perdana Berhad 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.
View our latest analysis for Teck Guan Perdana Berhad
Click here to see how much of its profit Teck Guan Perdana Berhad paid out over the last 12 months.
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. It's encouraging to see Teck Guan Perdana Berhad has grown its earnings rapidly, up 56% a year for the past five years.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the last three years, Teck Guan Perdana Berhad has lifted its dividend by approximately 19% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.
Is Teck Guan Perdana Berhad an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? We're glad to see the company has been improving its earnings per share while also paying out a low percentage of income. However, it's not great to see it paying out what we see as an uncomfortably high percentage of its cash flow. Overall, it's hard to get excited about Teck Guan Perdana Berhad from a dividend perspective.
In light of that, while Teck Guan Perdana Berhad has an appealing dividend, it's worth knowing the risks involved with this stock. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Teck Guan Perdana Berhad (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you ought to be aware of before buying the shares.
If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.
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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.