Only Three Days Left To Cash In On SIOS' (TSE:3744) Dividend

SIOS Corporation (TSE:3744) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three 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. This means that investors who purchase SIOS' shares on or after the 27th of December will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 31st of March.

The company's next dividend payment will be JP¥10.00 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of JP¥10.00 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that SIOS has a trailing yield of 2.6% on the current share price of JP¥381.00. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to investigate whether SIOS can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

View our latest analysis for SIOS

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. That's why it's good to see SIOS paying out a modest 28% of its earnings. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 46% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.

It's positive to see that SIOS'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 how much of its profit SIOS 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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. SIOS's earnings per share have fallen at approximately 7.1% a year over the previous five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. SIOS has delivered 7.2% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years.

The Bottom Line

Is SIOS worth buying for its dividend? SIOS has comfortably low cash and profit payout ratios, which may mean the dividend is sustainable even in the face of a sharp decline in earnings per share. Still, we consider declining earnings to be a warning sign. While it does have some good things going for it, we're a bit ambivalent and it would take more to convince us of SIOS's dividend merits.

So while SIOS looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. For example - SIOS has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

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.