Dividend Investors: Don't Be Too Quick To Buy Eastern Province Cement Co. (TADAWUL:3080) For Its Upcoming Dividend

Eastern Province Cement Co. (TADAWUL:3080) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three days. You can purchase shares before the 12th of April in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 28th of April.

Eastern Province Cement's next dividend payment will be ر.س2.50 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed ر.س2.50 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Eastern Province Cement has a trailing yield of approximately 4.4% on its current stock price of SAR56.7. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to investigate whether Eastern Province Cement can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

Check out our latest analysis for Eastern Province Cement

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. Last year, Eastern Province Cement paid out 99% of its income as dividends, which is above a level that we're comfortable with, especially if the company needs to reinvest in its business. 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 43% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.

It's good to see that while Eastern Province Cement's dividends were not well covered by profits, at least they are affordable from a cash perspective. Still, if the company continues paying out such a high percentage of its profits, the dividend could be at risk if business turns sour.

Click here to see how much of its profit Eastern Province Cement 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 business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. With that in mind, we're discomforted by Eastern Province Cement's 8.2% per annum decline in earnings in the past five years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Eastern Province Cement has seen its dividend decline 3.7% per annum on average over the past nine years, which is not great to see. While it's not great that earnings and dividends per share have fallen in recent years, we're encouraged by the fact that management has trimmed the dividend rather than risk over-committing the company in a risky attempt to maintain yields to shareholders.

The Bottom Line

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Eastern Province Cement? It's not a great combination to see a company with earnings in decline and paying out 99% of its profits, which could imply the dividend may be at risk of being cut in the future. However, the cash payout ratio was much lower - good news from a dividend perspective - which makes us wonder why there is such a mis-match between income and cashflow. It's not an attractive combination from a dividend perspective, and we're inclined to pass on this one for the time being.

So if you're still interested in Eastern Province Cement despite it's poor dividend qualities, you should be well informed on some of the risks facing this stock. Our analysis shows 3 warning signs for Eastern Province Cement that we strongly recommend you have a look at before investing in the company.

We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

If you’re looking to trade Eastern Province Cement, open an account with the lowest-cost* platform trusted by professionals, Interactive Brokers. Their clients from over 200 countries and territories trade stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds and funds worldwide from a single integrated account. Promoted

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.
^*Interactive Brokers Rated Lowest Cost Broker by StockBrokers.com Annual Online Review 2020

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.