Why It Might Not Make Sense To Buy Alkali Metals Limited (NSE:ALKALI) For Its Upcoming Dividend

It looks like Alkali Metals Limited (NSE:ALKALI) is about to go ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is commonly two business days before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves at least two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Therefore, if you purchase Alkali Metals' shares on or after the 14th of August, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 20th of September.

The company's next dividend payment will be ₹0.50 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed ₹0.50 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Alkali Metals has a trailing yield of 0.6% on the current stock price of ₹86.93. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

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Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Alkali Metals'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. Considering the lack of profitability, we also need to check if the company generated enough cash flow to cover the dividend payment. If Alkali Metals didn't generate enough cash to pay the dividend, then it must have either paid from cash in the bank or by borrowing money, neither of which is sustainable in the long term. Luckily it paid out just 25% of its free cash flow last year.

View our latest analysis for Alkali Metals

Click here to see how much of its profit Alkali Metals paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Alkali Metals was unprofitable last year and, unfortunately, the general trend suggests its earnings have been in decline over the last five years, making us wonder if the dividend is sustainable at all.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Alkali Metals has seen its dividend decline 11% per annum on average over the past 10 years, which is not great to see. It's never nice to see earnings and dividends falling, but at least management has cut the dividend rather than potentially risk the company's health in an attempt to maintain it.

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

To Sum It Up

Is Alkali Metals worth buying for its dividend? It's hard to get used to Alkali Metals paying a dividend despite reporting a loss over the past year. At least the dividend was covered by free cash flow, however. It's not the most attractive proposition from a dividend perspective, and we'd probably give this one a miss for now.

Having said that, if you're looking at this stock without much concern for the dividend, you should still be familiar of the risks involved with Alkali Metals. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Alkali Metals (of which 1 is a bit concerning!) you should know about.

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.