Three Days Left To Buy Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited (NSE:SUDARSCHEM) Before The Ex-Dividend Date

It looks like Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited (NSE:SUDARSCHEM) is about to go ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is one business day 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 of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Therefore, if you purchase Sudarshan Chemical Industries' shares on or after the 29th of July, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 5th of September.

The company's next dividend payment will be ₹6.00 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of ₹6.00 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Sudarshan Chemical Industries has a trailing yield of 0.8% on the current share price of ₹755.3. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether Sudarshan Chemical Industries has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

See our latest analysis for Sudarshan Chemical Industries

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. Fortunately Sudarshan Chemical Industries's payout ratio is modest, at just 29% of profit. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. Sudarshan Chemical Industries paid a dividend despite reporting negative free cash flow over the last twelve months. This may be due to heavy investment in the business, but this is still suboptimal from a dividend sustainability perspective.

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

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Fortunately for readers, Sudarshan Chemical Industries's earnings per share have been growing at 15% a year for the past five years.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Sudarshan Chemical Industries has delivered an average of 17% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. It's great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.

Final Takeaway

Is Sudarshan Chemical Industries an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? We're glad to see the company has been improving its earnings per share while also paying out a low percentage of income. However, it's not great to see it paying out what we see as an uncomfortably high percentage of its cash flow. In summary, while it has some positive characteristics, we're not inclined to race out and buy Sudarshan Chemical Industries today.

So while Sudarshan Chemical Industries looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. For example, Sudarshan Chemical Industries has 4 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think you should know about.

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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