Is VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) A Smart Choice For Dividend Investors?

Dividends play a key role in compounding returns over time and can form a large part of our portfolio return. Historically, VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) has paid a dividend to shareholders. It currently yields 1.0%. Should it have a place in your portfolio? Let's take a look at VSE in more detail.

See our latest analysis for VSE

5 questions I ask before picking a dividend stock

When assessing a stock as a potential addition to my dividend Portfolio, I look at these five areas:

• Is their annual yield among the top 25% of dividend payers?
• Has it paid dividend every year without dramatically reducing payout in the past?
• Has dividend per share amount increased over the past?
• Is is able to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings?
• Based on future earnings growth, will it be able to continue to payout dividend at the current rate?

How well does VSE fit our criteria?

The current trailing twelve-month payout ratio for the stock is 9.6%, meaning the dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Furthermore, analysts have not forecasted a dividends per share for the future, which makes it hard to determine the yield shareholders should expect, and whether the current payout is sustainable, moving forward.

When thinking about whether a dividend is sustainable, another factor to consider is the cash flow. Cash flow is important because companies with strong cash flow can usually sustain higher payout ratios.

If there is one thing that you want to be reliable in your life, it's dividend stocks and their constant income stream. Although VSEC's per share payments have increased in the past 10 years, it has not been a completely smooth ride. Shareholders would have seen a few years of reduced payments in this time.

Relative to peers, VSE produces a yield of 1.0%, which is on the low-side for Commercial Services stocks.

Next Steps:

After digging a little deeper into VSE's yield, it's easy to see why you should be cautious investing in the company just for the dividend. But if you are not exclusively a dividend investor, the stock could still be an interesting investment opportunity. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, you should always research extensively before deciding whether or not a stock is an appropriate investment for you. I always recommend analysing the company's fundamentals and underlying business before making an investment decision. There are three key factors you should further examine:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for VSEC’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for VSEC’s outlook.
2. Valuation: What is VSEC worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it's not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether VSEC is currently mispriced by the market.
3. Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.