Investors In Fu Burg Industrial Co., Ltd. (GTSM:8929) Should Consider This, First

Could Fu Burg Industrial Co., Ltd. (GTSM:8929) be an attractive dividend share to own for the long haul? Investors are often drawn to strong companies with the idea of reinvesting the dividends. Yet sometimes, investors buy a popular dividend stock because of its yield, and then lose money if the company's dividend doesn't live up to expectations.

A 2.4% yield is nothing to get excited about, but investors probably think the long payment history suggests Fu Burg Industrial has some staying power. Some simple analysis can reduce the risk of holding Fu Burg Industrial for its dividend, and we'll focus on the most important aspects below.

Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Fu Burg Industrial!

Payout ratios

Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. As a result, we should always investigate whether a company can afford its dividend, measured as a percentage of a company's net income after tax. In the last year, Fu Burg Industrial paid out 10,282% of its profit as dividends. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, from the perspective of an investor who hopes to own the company for many years, a payout ratio of above 100% is definitely a concern.

We also measure dividends paid against a company's levered free cash flow, to see if enough cash was generated to cover the dividend. Fu Burg Industrial's cash payout ratio last year was 14%. Cash flows are typically lumpy, but this looks like an appropriately conservative payout. It's disappointing to see that the dividend was not covered by profits, but cash is more important from a dividend sustainability perspective, and Fu Burg Industrial fortunately did generate enough cash to fund its dividend. If executives were to continue paying more in dividends than the company reported in profits, we'd view this as a warning sign. Very few companies are able to sustainably pay dividends larger than their reported earnings.

While the above analysis focuses on dividends relative to a company's earnings, we do note Fu Burg Industrial's strong net cash position, which will let it pay larger dividends for a time, should it choose.

Consider getting our latest analysis on Fu Burg Industrial's financial position here.

Dividend Volatility

One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. Fu Burg Industrial has been paying dividends for a long time, but for the purpose of this analysis, we only examine the past 10 years of payments. The dividend has been cut on at least one occasion historically. During the past 10-year period, the first annual payment was NT$1.3 in 2011, compared to NT$0.5 last year. The dividend has shrunk at around 9.2% a year during that period. Fu Burg Industrial's dividend hasn't shrunk linearly at 9.2% per annum, but the CAGR is a useful estimate of the historical rate of change.

When a company's per-share dividend falls we question if this reflects poorly on either external business conditions, or the company's capital allocation decisions. Either way, we find it hard to get excited about a company with a declining dividend.

Dividend Growth Potential

Given that dividend payments have been shrinking like a glacier in a warming world, we need to check if there are some bright spots on the horizon. Fu Burg Industrial's earnings per share have shrunk at 62% a year over the past five years. With this kind of significant decline, we always wonder what has changed in the business. Dividends are about stability, and Fu Burg Industrial's earnings per share, which support the dividend, have been anything but stable.

Conclusion

To summarise, shareholders should always check that Fu Burg Industrial's dividends are affordable, that its dividend payments are relatively stable, and that it has decent prospects for growing its earnings and dividend. We're not keen on the fact that Fu Burg Industrial paid out such a high percentage of its income, although its cashflow is in better shape. Second, earnings per share have been in decline, and its dividend has been cut at least once in the past. In summary, Fu Burg Industrial has a number of shortcomings that we'd find it hard to get past. Things could change, but we think there are likely more attractive alternatives out there.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Case in point: We've spotted 5 warning signs for Fu Burg Industrial (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about.

If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of dividend stocks yielding above 3%.

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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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