CoreSite Realty Corporation (NYSE:COR) Stock Goes Ex-Dividend In Just 4 Days

It looks like CoreSite Realty Corporation (NYSE:COR) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. Investors can purchase shares before the 27th of September in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 15th of October.

CoreSite Realty's next dividend payment will be US$1.2 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$4.9 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, CoreSite Realty has a trailing yield of 4.1% on the current stock price of $119.83. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! So we need to investigate whether CoreSite Realty can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

Check out our latest analysis for CoreSite Realty

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. Its dividend payout ratio is 85% of profit, which means the company is paying out a majority of its earnings. The relatively limited profit reinvestment could slow the rate of future earnings growth We'd be worried about the risk of a drop in earnings. That said, REITs are often required by law to distribute all of their earnings, and it's not unusual to see a REIT with a payout ratio around 100%. We wouldn't read too much into this. 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. It paid out 82% 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.

It's positive to see that CoreSite Realty'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.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. 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 CoreSite Realty has grown its earnings rapidly, up 34% a year for the past five years. Earnings per share are growing at a rapid rate, yet the company is paying out more than three-quarters of its earnings.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. CoreSite Realty has delivered 28% dividend growth per year on average over the past nine years. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.

Final Takeaway

Is CoreSite Realty worth buying for its dividend? Higher earnings per share generally lead to higher dividends from dividend-paying stocks over the long run. However, we'd also note that CoreSite Realty is paying out more than half of its earnings and cash flow as profits, which could limit the dividend growth if earnings growth slows. Overall, it's hard to get excited about CoreSite Realty from a dividend perspective.

Curious what other investors think of CoreSite Realty? See what analysts are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow.

A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.