What To Know Before Buying Taiwan Kong King Co.,Ltd (GTSM:3093) For Its Dividend

Is Taiwan Kong King Co.,Ltd (GTSM:3093) a good dividend stock? How can we tell? Dividend paying companies with growing earnings can be highly rewarding in the long term. Unfortunately, it's common for investors to be enticed in by the seemingly attractive yield, and lose money when the company has to cut its dividend payments.

A slim 2.5% yield is hard to get excited about, but the long payment history is respectable. At the right price, or with strong growth opportunities, Taiwan Kong KingLtd could have potential. Remember though, due to the recent spike in its share price, Taiwan Kong KingLtd's yield will look lower, even though the market may now be factoring in an improvement in its long-term prospects. Some simple research can reduce the risk of buying Taiwan Kong KingLtd for its dividend - read on to learn more.

Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Taiwan Kong KingLtd!

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. Taiwan Kong KingLtd paid out 33% of its profit as dividends, over the trailing twelve month period. A medium payout ratio strikes a good balance between paying dividends, and keeping enough back to invest in the business. Besides, if reinvestment opportunities dry up, the company has room to increase the dividend.

In addition to comparing dividends against profits, we should inspect whether the company generated enough cash to pay its dividend. Taiwan Kong KingLtd paid out 24% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservative and suggests the dividend is sustainable. It's positive to see that Taiwan Kong KingLtd'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.

With a strong net cash balance, Taiwan Kong KingLtd investors may not have much to worry about in the near term from a dividend perspective.

Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Taiwan Kong KingLtd's latest financial position, by checking our visualisation of its financial health.

Dividend Volatility

Before buying a stock for its income, we want to see if the dividends have been stable in the past, and if the company has a track record of maintaining its dividend. For the purpose of this article, we only scrutinise the last decade of Taiwan Kong KingLtd's dividend payments. Its dividend payments have declined on at least one occasion over the past 10 years. During the past 10-year period, the first annual payment was NT$3.0 in 2011, compared to NT$1.6 last year. This works out to be a decline of approximately 6.1% per year over that time. Taiwan Kong KingLtd's dividend has been cut sharply at least once, so it hasn't fallen by 6.1% every year, but this is a decent approximation of the long term change.

We struggle to make a case for buying Taiwan Kong KingLtd for its dividend, given that payments have shrunk over the past 10 years.

Dividend Growth Potential

With a relatively unstable dividend, and a poor history of shrinking dividends, it's even more important to see if EPS are growing. It's good to see Taiwan Kong KingLtd has been growing its earnings per share at 13% a year over the past five years. Earnings per share have been growing at a good rate, and the company is paying less than half its earnings as dividends. We generally think this is an attractive combination, as it permits further reinvestment in the business.

Conclusion

When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. First, we like that the company's dividend payments appear well covered, although the retained capital also needs to be effectively reinvested. We were also glad to see it growing earnings, but it was concerning to see the dividend has been cut at least once in the past. All things considered, Taiwan Kong KingLtd looks like a strong prospect. At the right valuation, it could be something special.

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. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 3 warning signs for Taiwan Kong KingLtd that investors need to be conscious of moving forward.

We have also put together a list of global stocks with a market capitalisation above $1bn and yielding more 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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