Read This Before Considering Youngor Fashion Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600177) For Its Upcoming CN¥0.50 Dividend

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Youngor Fashion Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600177) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next three days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. In other words, investors can purchase Youngor Fashion's shares before the 13th of June in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 13th of June.

The company's next dividend payment will be CN¥0.50 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed CN¥0.50 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Youngor Fashion has a trailing yield of 6.3% on the current stock price of CN¥7.93. 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! So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Youngor Fashion

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. Youngor Fashion paid out 66% of its earnings to investors last year, a normal payout level for most businesses. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Youngor Fashion generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Over the last year it paid out 59% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual range for most companies.

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 how much of its profit Youngor Fashion paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks with flat earnings can still be attractive dividend payers, but it is important to be more conservative with your approach and demand a greater margin for safety when it comes to dividend sustainability. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. With that in mind, we're not enthused to see that Youngor Fashion's earnings per share have remained effectively flat 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. Earnings growth has been slim and the company is paying out more than half 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.

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, Youngor Fashion has lifted its dividend by approximately 7.0% a year on average.

Final Takeaway

Should investors buy Youngor Fashion for the upcoming dividend? Earnings per share have barely grown, and although Youngor Fashion paid out over half its earnings and free cash flow last year, the payout ratios are within a normal range for most companies. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about Youngor Fashion from a dividend perspective.

If you're not too concerned about Youngor Fashion's ability to pay dividends, you should still be mindful of some of the other risks that this business faces. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Youngor Fashion (of which 1 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

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.