Three Days Left To Buy abrdn plc (LON:ABDN) Before The Ex-Dividend Date

abrdn plc (LON:ABDN) is about to trade 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 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. Accordingly, abrdn investors that purchase the stock on or after the 17th of August will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 26th of September.

The company's next dividend payment will be UK£0.073 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of UK£0.15 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, abrdn stock has a trailing yield of around 7.8% on the current share price of £1.87. 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! That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

View our latest analysis for abrdn

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. abrdn paid a dividend last year despite being unprofitable. This might be a one-off event, but it's not a sustainable state of affairs in the long run.

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

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. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. abrdn was unprofitable last year, but at least the general trend suggests its earnings have been improving over the past five years. Even so, an unprofitable company whose business does not quickly recover is usually not a good candidate for dividend investors.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, abrdn has increased its dividend at approximately 1.5% a year on average. Earnings per share have been growing much quicker than dividends, potentially because abrdn is keeping back more of its profits to grow the business.

We update our analysis on abrdn every 24 hours, so you can always get the latest insights on its financial health, here.

To Sum It Up

Is abrdn worth buying for its dividend? It's not great to see the company paying a dividend despite being loss-making over the last year. It doesn't appear an outstanding opportunity, but could be worth a closer look.

With that being said, if dividends aren't your biggest concern with abrdn, you should know about the other risks facing this business. For example - abrdn has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.