Do These 3 Checks Before Buying Conduit Holdings Limited (LON:CRE) For Its Upcoming Dividend

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Conduit Holdings Limited (LON:CRE) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 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 because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. In other words, investors can purchase Conduit Holdings' shares before the 23rd of March in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 21st of April.

The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.18 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$0.36 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Conduit Holdings stock has a trailing yield of around 6.3% on the current share price of £4.7. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Conduit Holdings's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Conduit Holdings

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Conduit Holdings's dividend is not well covered by earnings, as the company lost money last year. This is not a sustainable state of affairs, so it would be worth investigating if earnings are expected to recover.

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

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Conduit Holdings was unprofitable last year, and sadly its loss per share worsened by 116% on the previous year.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Conduit Holdings's dividend payments are broadly unchanged compared to where they were two years ago. When earnings are declining yet the dividends are flat, typically the company is either paying out a higher portion of its earnings, or paying out of cash or debt on the balance sheet, neither of which is ideal.

Get our latest analysis on Conduit Holdings's balance sheet health here.

The Bottom Line

Is Conduit Holdings worth buying for its dividend? It's definitely not great to see that it paid a dividend despite reporting a loss last year. Worse, the general trend in its earnings looks negative in recent times. These characteristics don't generally lead to outstanding dividend performance, and investors may not be happy with the results of owning this stock for its dividend.

With that in mind though, if the poor dividend characteristics of Conduit Holdings don't faze you, it's worth being mindful of the risks involved with this business. To help with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Conduit Holdings that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.

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.