Do These 3 Checks Before Buying Freehold Royalties Ltd. (TSE:FRU) For Its Upcoming Dividend
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Freehold Royalties Ltd. (TSE:FRU) is about to go ex-dividend in just three days. You will need to purchase shares before the 29th of October to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 16th of November.
Freehold Royalties's next dividend payment will be CA$0.015 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of CA$0.18 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Freehold Royalties stock has a trailing yield of around 4.5% on the current share price of CA$4.04. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Freehold Royalties's dividend is reliable and sustainable. As a result, readers should always check whether Freehold Royalties has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
View our latest analysis for Freehold Royalties
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. Freehold Royalties lost money last year, so the fact that it's paying a dividend is certainly disconcerting. There might be a good reason for this, but we'd want to look into it further before getting comfortable. Given that the company reported a loss last year, we now need to see if it generated enough free cash flow to fund the dividend. If cash earnings don't cover the dividend, the company would have to pay dividends out of cash in the bank, or by borrowing money, neither of which is long-term sustainable. It paid out 84% of its free cash flow as dividends, which is within usual limits but will limit the company's ability to lift the dividend if there's no growth.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Freehold Royalties was unprofitable last year and, unfortunately, the general trend suggests its earnings have been in decline over the last five years, making us wonder if the dividend is sustainable at all.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Freehold Royalties's dividend payments per share have declined at 20% per year on average over the past 10 years, which is uninspiring. It's never nice to see earnings and dividends falling, but at least management has cut the dividend rather than potentially risk the company's health in an attempt to maintain it.
We update our analysis on Freehold Royalties every 24 hours, so you can always get the latest insights on its financial health, here.
To Sum It Up
Has Freehold Royalties got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? It's hard to get used to Freehold Royalties paying a dividend despite reporting a loss over the past year. At least the dividend was covered by free cash flow, however. It's not the most attractive proposition from a dividend perspective, and we'd probably give this one a miss for now.
With that being said, if you're still considering Freehold Royalties as an investment, you'll find it beneficial to know what risks this stock is facing. To help with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Freehold Royalties that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.
If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top 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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