Read This Before Buying Acciona SA (BME:ANA) For Its Upcoming €2.43 Dividend

If you are interested in cashing in on Acciona SA's (BME:ANA) upcoming dividend of €2.43 per share, you only have 2 days left to buy the shares before its ex-dividend date, 28 June 2018, in time for dividends payable on the 02 July 2018. Investors looking for higher income-generating stocks to add to their portfolio should keep reading, as I take a deeper dive into Acciona's latest financial data to analyse its dividend attributes. Check out our latest analysis for Acciona

Here's how I find good dividend stocks

When assessing a stock as a potential addition to my dividend Portfolio, I look at these five areas:

• Is its annual yield among the top 25% of dividend-paying companies?
• Has its dividend been stable over the past (i.e. no missed payments or significant payout cuts)?
• Has dividend per share amount increased over the past?
• Can it afford to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings?
• Will it have the ability to keep paying its dividends going forward?

How well does Acciona fit our criteria?

Acciona has a trailing twelve-month payout ratio of 77.36%, meaning the dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Going forward, analysts expect ANA's payout to remain around the same level at 75.37% of its earnings, which leads to a dividend yield of around 4.42%. Moreover, EPS should increase to €4.26.

If there's one type of stock you want to be reliable, it's dividend stocks and their stable income-generating ability. Dividend payments from Acciona have been volatile in the past 10 years, with some years experiencing significant drops of over 25%. This means that dividend hunters should probably steer clear of the stock, at least for now until the track record improves.

Relative to peers, Acciona has a yield of 4.23%, which is high for Electric Utilities stocks but still below the market's top dividend payers.

Next Steps:

If Acciona is in your portfolio for cash-generating reasons, there may be better alternatives out there. However, if you are not strictly just a dividend investor, the stock could still offer some interesting investment opportunities. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, you should always research extensively before deciding whether or not a stock is an appropriate investment for you. I always recommend analysing the company's fundamentals and underlying business before making an investment decision. I've put together three essential factors you should further research:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for ANA’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for ANA’s outlook.
2. Valuation: What is ANA worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it's not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether ANA is currently mispriced by the market.
3. Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article 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.