Fiera Capital Corporation (TSE:FSZ) Is About To Go Ex-Dividend, And It Pays A 8.2% Yield

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Fiera Capital Corporation (TSE:FSZ) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Thus, you can purchase Fiera Capital's shares before the 8th of March in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 6th of April.

The company's upcoming dividend is CA$0.21 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of CA$0.86 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Fiera Capital has a trailing yield of 8.2% on the current stock price of CA$10.55. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

View our latest analysis for Fiera Capital

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Fiera Capital paid out 119% of profit in the past year, which we think is typically not sustainable unless there are mitigating characteristics such as unusually strong cash flow or a large cash balance.

Generally, the higher a company's payout ratio, the more the dividend is at risk of being reduced.

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 Fiera Capital has grown its earnings rapidly, up 22% 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. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, Fiera Capital has lifted its dividend by approximately 10% a year on average. It's great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.

To Sum It Up

Is Fiera Capital an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Fiera Capital has been generating credible earnings per share growth, although its dividend payments were not adequately covered by earnings. In sum this is a middling combination, and we find it hard to get excited about the company from a dividend perspective.

So if you want to do more digging on Fiera Capital, you'll find it worthwhile knowing the risks that this stock faces. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Fiera Capital that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.

Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.

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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.