Should You Buy Games Workshop Group PLC (LON:GAW) For Its 4.1% Dividend?

Dividends can be underrated but they form a large part of investment returns, playing an important role in compounding returns in the long run. Historically, Games Workshop Group PLC (LON:GAW) has been paying a dividend to shareholders. Today it yields 4.1%. Let's dig deeper into whether Games Workshop Group should have a place in your portfolio.

See our latest analysis for Games Workshop Group

5 checks you should use to assess a dividend stock

If you are a dividend investor, you should always assess these five key metrics:

• Does it pay an annual yield higher than 75% of dividend payers?
• Has it paid dividend every year without dramatically reducing payout in the past?
• Has dividend per share amount increased over the past?
• Does earnings amply cover its dividend payments?
• Will the company be able to keep paying dividend based on the future earnings growth?

Does Games Workshop Group pass our checks?

The company currently pays out 68% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, meaning the dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Furthermore, analysts have not forecasted a dividends per share for the future, which makes it hard to determine the yield shareholders should expect, and whether the current payout is sustainable, moving forward.

When considering the sustainability of dividends, it is also worth checking the cash flow of a company. Companies with strong cash flow can sustain a higher payout ratio, while companies with weaker cash flow generally cannot.

If there is one thing that you want to be reliable in your life, it's dividend stocks and their constant income stream. Unfortunately, it is really too early to view Games Workshop Group as a dividend investment. It has only been consistently paying dividends for 9 years, however, standard practice for reliable payers is to look for a 10-year minimum track record.

Compared to its peers, Games Workshop Group has a yield of 4.1%, which is high for Leisure stocks but still below the market's top dividend payers.

Next Steps:

Now you know to keep in mind the reason why investors should be careful investing in Games Workshop Group for the dividend. But if you are not exclusively a dividend investor, the stock could still be an interesting investment opportunity. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I urge potential investors to try and get a good understanding of the underlying business and its fundamentals before deciding on an investment. Below, I've compiled three fundamental aspects you should further examine:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for GAW’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for GAW’s outlook.
2. Valuation: What is GAW 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 GAW 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.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.