LifeWorks (TSE:LWRK) Has Announced A Dividend Of CA$0.065

Simply Wall St
·3 min read

The board of LifeWorks Inc. (TSE:LWRK) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 16th of August, with investors receiving CA$0.065 per share. This makes the dividend yield 2.2%, which will augment investor returns quite nicely.

Check out our latest analysis for LifeWorks

LifeWorks Doesn't Earn Enough To Cover Its Payments

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. Prior to this announcement, the company was paying out 201% of what it was earning, however the dividend was quite comfortably covered by free cash flows at a cash payout ratio of only 52%. Given that the dividend is a cash outflow, we think that cash is more important than accounting measures of profit when assessing the dividend, so this is a mitigating factor.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 89.8%. However, if the dividend continues growing along recent trends, it could start putting pressure on the balance sheet with the payout ratio reaching 106% over the next year.

historic-dividend
historic-dividend

LifeWorks Has A Solid Track Record

The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. Since 2011, the first annual payment was CA$0.94, compared to the most recent full-year payment of CA$0.78. This works out to be a decline of approximately 1.9% per year over that time. Generally, we don't like to see a dividend that has been declining over time as this can degrade shareholders' returns and indicate that the company may be running into problems.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. Earnings have grown at around 4.8% a year for the past five years, which isn't massive but still better than seeing them shrink. With anaemic earnings growth, it's not confidence inspiring to see LifeWorks paying out more than double what it is earning. Meaning that on balance, the dividend is more likely to fall in the future than to grow.

In Summary

In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about LifeWorks' payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. The company has been bring in plenty of cash to cover the dividend, but we don't necessarily think that makes it a great dividend stock. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for LifeWorks (of which 1 can't be ignored!) you should know about. We have also put together a list of global stocks with a solid 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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