Do These 3 Checks Before Buying Oriola Oyj (HEL:OKDBV) For Its Upcoming Dividend

It looks like Oriola Oyj (HEL:OKDBV) is about to go ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Accordingly, Oriola Oyj investors that purchase the stock on or after the 22nd of March will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 14th of April.

The company's next dividend payment will be €0.06 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed €0.06 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Oriola Oyj has a trailing yield of 3.9% on the current share price of €1.524. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Oriola Oyj's dividend is reliable and sustainable. As a result, readers should always check whether Oriola Oyj has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for Oriola Oyj

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Last year, Oriola Oyj paid out 227% of its profit to shareholders in the form of dividends. This is not sustainable behaviour and requires a closer look on behalf of the purchaser. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. It paid out 11% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservatively low.

It's good to see that while Oriola Oyj's dividends were not covered by profits, at least they are affordable from a cash perspective. Still, if the company repeatedly paid a dividend greater than its profits, we'd be concerned. Extraordinarily few companies are capable of persistently paying a dividend that is greater than their profits.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. With that in mind, we're discomforted by Oriola Oyj's 29% per annum decline in earnings in the past five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Oriola Oyj has seen its dividend decline 2.8% per annum on average over the past 10 years, which is not great to see. While it's not great that earnings and dividends per share have fallen in recent years, we're encouraged by the fact that management has trimmed the dividend rather than risk over-committing the company in a risky attempt to maintain yields to shareholders.

The Bottom Line

Should investors buy Oriola Oyj for the upcoming dividend? It's never great to see earnings per share declining, especially when a company is paying out 227% of its profit as dividends, which we feel is uncomfortably high. However, the cash payout ratio was much lower - good news from a dividend perspective - which makes us wonder why there is such a mis-match between income and cashflow. Bottom line: Oriola Oyj has some unfortunate characteristics that we think could lead to sub-optimal outcomes for dividend investors.

So if you're still interested in Oriola Oyj despite it's poor dividend qualities, you should be well informed on some of the risks facing this stock. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Oriola Oyj you should be aware of.

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.