Don't Race Out To Buy Polytronics Technology Corp. (TWSE:6224) Just Because It's Going Ex-Dividend

Polytronics Technology Corp. (TWSE:6224) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 3 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. This means that investors who purchase Polytronics Technology's shares on or after the 11th of April will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 3rd of May.

The company's next dividend payment will be NT$1.50 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of NT$1.50 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that Polytronics Technology has a trailing yield of 2.6% on the current share price of NT$56.90. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. As a result, readers should always check whether Polytronics Technology has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

See our latest analysis for Polytronics Technology

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Polytronics Technology distributed an unsustainably high 121% of its profit as dividends to shareholders last year. Without extenuating circumstances, we'd consider the dividend at risk of a cut. 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. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 43% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.

It's disappointing to see that the dividend was not covered by profits, but cash is more important from a dividend sustainability perspective, and Polytronics Technology 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. Extraordinarily few companies are capable of persistently paying a dividend that is greater than their profits.

Click here to see how much of its profit Polytronics Technology 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. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Polytronics Technology's earnings per share have dropped 22% a year over the past five years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Polytronics Technology has seen its dividend decline 9.6% per annum on average over the past 10 years, which is not great to see. It's never nice to see earnings and dividends falling, but at least management has cut the dividend rather than potentially risk the company's health in an attempt to maintain it.

To Sum It Up

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Polytronics Technology? It's never great to see earnings per share declining, especially when a company is paying out 121% of its profit as dividends, which we feel is uncomfortably high. 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 the most attractive proposition from a dividend perspective, and we'd probably give this one a miss for now.

So if you're still interested in Polytronics Technology despite it's poor dividend qualities, you should be well informed on some of the risks facing this stock. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Polytronics Technology (including 1 which shouldn't be ignored).

Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.