Should You Buy Onward Technologies Limited (NSE:ONWARDTEC) For Its Upcoming Dividend?

It looks like Onward Technologies Limited (NSE:ONWARDTEC) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 3 days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 8th of July will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 15th of August.

Onward Technologies's next dividend payment will be ₹1.50 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of ₹1.50 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Onward Technologies has a trailing yield of 2.4% on the current stock price of ₹61.05. 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.

See our latest analysis for Onward Technologies

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 Onward Technologies's payout ratio is modest, at just 38% of profit. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Onward Technologies generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Luckily it paid out just 9.1% of its free cash flow last year.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

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

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 earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. For this reason, we're glad to see Onward Technologies's earnings per share have risen 14% per annum over the last five years. The company has managed to grow earnings at a rapid rate, while reinvesting most of the profits within the business. This will make it easier to fund future growth efforts and we think this is an attractive combination - plus the dividend can always be increased later.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the last four years, Onward Technologies has lifted its dividend by approximately 11% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.

Final Takeaway

Is Onward Technologies worth buying for its dividend? We love that Onward Technologies is growing earnings per share while simultaneously paying out a low percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. These characteristics suggest the company is reinvesting in growing its business, while the conservative payout ratio also implies a reduced risk of the dividend being cut in the future. It's a promising combination that should mark this company worthy of closer attention.

On that note, you'll want to research what risks Onward Technologies is facing. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Onward Technologies you should be aware of.

A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising 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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