Olympia Financial Group Inc. (TSE:OLY) Looks Like A Good Stock, And It's Going Ex-Dividend Soon

Olympia Financial Group Inc. (TSE:OLY) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in two days. The ex-dividend date is commonly two business days before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Thus, you can purchase Olympia Financial Group's shares before the 19th of June in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 30th of June.

The company's next dividend payment will be CA$0.60 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of CA$7.20 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Olympia Financial Group stock has a trailing yield of around 6.2% on the current share price of CA$116.50. 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! As a result, readers should always check whether Olympia Financial Group has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

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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. Olympia Financial Group paid out more than half (73%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies.

When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.

See our latest analysis for Olympia Financial Group

Click here to see how much of its profit Olympia Financial Group paid out over the last 12 months.

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. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. It's encouraging to see Olympia Financial Group has grown its earnings rapidly, up 20% 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. Olympia Financial Group has delivered 11% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.

The Bottom Line

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Olympia Financial Group? Earnings per share are growing at an attractive rate, and Olympia Financial Group is paying out a bit over half its profits. We think this is a pretty attractive combination, and would be interested in investigating Olympia Financial Group more closely.

With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Olympia Financial Group (of which 1 is a bit concerning!) you should know about.

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.