Worthington Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WOR) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon

It looks like Worthington Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WOR) is about to go ex-dividend in the next four days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 14th of September will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 29th of September.

Worthington Industries's next dividend payment will be US$0.25 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.00 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Worthington Industries has a trailing yield of approximately 2.5% on its current stock price of $40.56. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to investigate whether Worthington Industries can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

View our latest analysis for Worthington Industries

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Worthington Industries paid out more than half (67%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies. 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. What's good is that dividends were well covered by free cash flow, with the company paying out 22% of its cash flow last year.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

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. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Worthington Industries, with earnings per share up 4.4% on average over the last five years. Earnings per share growth has been slim, and the company is already paying out a majority of its earnings. While there is some room to both increase the payout ratio and reinvest in the business, generally the higher a payout ratio goes, the lower a company's prospects for future growth.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, Worthington Industries has lifted its dividend by approximately 9.6% a year on average. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.

To Sum It Up

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Worthington Industries? While earnings per share growth has been modest, Worthington Industries's dividend payouts are around an average level; without a sharp change in earnings we feel that the dividend is likely somewhat sustainable. Pleasingly the company paid out a conservatively low percentage of its free cash flow. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about Worthington Industries from a dividend perspective.

In light of that, while Worthington Industries has an appealing dividend, it's worth knowing the risks involved with this stock. For example, we've found 3 warning signs for Worthington Industries that we recommend you consider before investing in the business.

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.

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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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