Evli Oyj (HEL:EVLI) Stock Goes Ex-Dividend In Just Four Days

Evli Oyj (HEL:EVLI) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 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. 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. Meaning, you will need to purchase Evli Oyj's shares before the 15th of March to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 25th of March.

The company's next dividend payment will be €1.15 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of €1.16 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Evli Oyj stock has a trailing yield of around 5.7% on the current share price of €20.20. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Evli Oyj's dividend is reliable and sustainable. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Evli Oyj

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Evli Oyj paid out 106% of its earnings, which is more than we're comfortable with, unless there are mitigating circumstances.

When the dividend payout ratio is high, as it is in this case, the dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut in the future.

Click here to see how much of its profit Evli Oyj paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. For that reason, it's encouraging to see Evli Oyj's earnings over the past year have risen 32%. While we'd be remiss not to point out that a year is a very short time in dividend investing, it's an encouraging sign so far.

One year is not very long in the grand scheme of things though, so we wouldn't draw too strong a conclusion based on these results.

Unfortunately Evli Oyj has only been paying a dividend for a year or so, so there's not much of a history to draw insight from.

The Bottom Line

Is Evli Oyj worth buying for its dividend? Evli Oyj has been generating credible earnings per share growth, although its dividend payments were not adequately covered by earnings. At best we would put it on a watch-list to see if business conditions improve, as it doesn't look like a clear opportunity right now.

If you're not too concerned about Evli Oyj's ability to pay dividends, you should still be mindful of some of the other risks that this business faces. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for Evli Oyj and you should be aware of them before buying any 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.