Should You Buy POSCO (KRX:005490) For Its Upcoming Dividend?

POSCO (KRX:005490) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in four days. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 30th of March will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 28th of May.

POSCO's next dividend payment will be ₩1,500 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed ₩8,000 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, POSCO has a trailing yield of 2.6% on the current stock price of ₩308500. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether POSCO's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to investigate whether POSCO can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

See our latest analysis for POSCO

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. That's why it's good to see POSCO paying out a modest 40% of its earnings. 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. The good news is it paid out just 13% of its free cash flow in the last year.

It's positive to see that POSCO'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 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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. It's encouraging to see POSCO has grown its earnings rapidly, up 61% a year for the past five years. POSCO is paying out less than half its earnings and cash flow, while simultaneously growing earnings per share at a rapid clip. This is a very favourable combination that can often lead to the dividend multiplying over the long term, if earnings grow and the company pays out a higher percentage of its earnings.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. POSCO has seen its dividend decline 2.2% per annum on average over the past 10 years, which is not great to see. It's unusual to see earnings per share increasing at the same time as dividends per share have been in decline. We'd hope it's because the company is reinvesting heavily in its business, but it could also suggest business is lumpy.

Final Takeaway

Is POSCO worth buying for its dividend? It's great that POSCO is growing earnings per share while simultaneously paying out a low percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. It's disappointing to see the dividend has been cut at least once in the past, but as things stand now, the low payout ratio suggests a conservative approach to dividends, which we like. POSCO looks solid on this analysis overall, and we'd definitely consider investigating it more closely.

So while POSCO looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 2 warning signs with POSCO and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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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