CLS Holdings plc (LON:CLI) Will Pay A UK£0.052 Dividend In Three Days

Readers hoping to buy CLS Holdings plc (LON:CLI) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. If you purchase the stock on or after the 25th of March, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 29th of April.

CLS Holdings's next dividend payment will be UK£0.052 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed UK£0.075 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, CLS Holdings has a trailing yield of 3.2% on the current stock price of £2.34. 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! So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

View our latest analysis for CLS Holdings

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately CLS Holdings's payout ratio is modest, at just 40% of profit. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. Dividends consumed 69% of the company's free cash flow last year, which is within a normal range for most dividend-paying organisations.

It's positive to see that CLS Holdings's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

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

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see CLS Holdings's earnings per share have dropped 9.1% a year over the past five years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the past four years, CLS Holdings has increased its dividend at approximately 7.0% a year on average.

The Bottom Line

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid CLS Holdings? Its earnings per share have been declining meaningfully, although it is paying out less than half its income and more than half its cash flow as dividends. Neither payout ratio appears an immediate concern, but we're concerned about the earnings. Overall, it's not a bad combination, but we feel that there are likely more attractive dividend prospects out there.

With that being said, if dividends aren't your biggest concern with CLS Holdings, you should know about the other risks facing this business. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with CLS Holdings (including 1 which is significant).

If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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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. 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.
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