We Wouldn't Be Too Quick To Buy Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. (KRX:000810) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. (KRX:000810) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. You can purchase shares before the 29th of December in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 17th of April.

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance's next dividend payment will be ₩8,500 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of ₩8,500 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has a trailing yield of approximately 4.4% on its current stock price of ₩194000. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

See our latest analysis for Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance is paying out an acceptable 59% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies.

When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.

Click here to see how much of its profit Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance 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. So we're not too excited that Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance's earnings are down 4.1% a year over the past five years.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has increased its dividend at approximately 11% a year on average. That's interesting, but the combination of a growing dividend despite declining earnings can typically only be achieved by paying out more of the company's profits. This can be valuable for shareholders, but it can't go on forever.

To Sum It Up

Has Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? We're not overly enthused to see Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance's earnings in retreat at the same time as the company is paying out more than half of its earnings as dividends to shareholders. This is not an overtly appealing combination of characteristics, and we're just not that interested in this company's dividend.

With that being said, if you're still considering Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance as an investment, you'll find it beneficial to know what risks this stock is facing. For example, we've found 1 warning sign for Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance that we recommend you consider before investing in the business.

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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