Only Three Days Left To Cash In On Georg Fischer's (VTX:FI-N) Dividend

It looks like Georg Fischer AG (VTX:FI-N) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 3 days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. Meaning, you will need to purchase Georg Fischer's shares before the 22nd of April to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 26th of April.

The company's next dividend payment will be CHF20.00 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed CHF20.00 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Georg Fischer has a trailing yield of approximately 1.8% on its current stock price of CHF1087. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

View our latest analysis for Georg Fischer

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Fortunately Georg Fischer's payout ratio is modest, at just 38% of profit. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Georg Fischer generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 43% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.

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 that aren't growing their earnings can still be valuable, but it is even more important to assess the sustainability of the dividend if it looks like the company will struggle to grow. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. That explains why we're not overly excited about Georg Fischer's flat earnings over the past five years. It's better than seeing them drop, certainly, but over the long term, all of the best dividend stocks are able to meaningfully grow their earnings per share.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Georg Fischer has delivered 2.9% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years.

To Sum It Up

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Georg Fischer? While it's not great to see that earnings per share are effectively flat over the 10-year period we checked, at least the payout ratios are low and conservative. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about Georg Fischer from a dividend perspective.

So while Georg Fischer looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. For example, we've found 2 warning signs for Georg Fischer that we recommend you consider before investing in the business.

A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks.

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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.