Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you’re one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that VSE Corporation (NASDAQ:VSEC) is about to go ex-dividend in just 4 days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 5th of November, you won’t be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 20th of November.
VSE’s next dividend payment will be US$0.09 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.4 to shareholders. Based on the last year’s worth of payments, VSE stock has a trailing yield of around 0.9% on the current share price of $39.49. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it’s growing.
View our latest analysis for VSE
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. VSE has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 10% of its income after tax. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. What’s good is that dividends were well covered by free cash flow, with the company paying out 15% of its cash flow last year.
It’s encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don’t drop precipitously.
Click here to see how much of its profit VSE paid out over the last 12 months.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. With that in mind, we’re encouraged by the steady growth at VSE, with earnings per share up 8.1% on average over the last five years. Earnings per share have been growing at a decent rate, and the company is retaining more than three-quarters of its earnings in the business. If profits are reinvested effectively, this could be a bullish combination for future earnings and dividends.
The main way most investors will assess a company’s dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, ten years ago, VSE has lifted its dividend by approximately 15% a year on average. It’s encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.
The Bottom Line
Should investors buy VSE for the upcoming dividend? Earnings per share have been growing moderately, and VSE is paying out less than half its earnings and cash flow as dividends, which is an attractive combination as it suggests the company is investing in growth. We would prefer to see earnings growing faster, but the best dividend stocks over the long term typically combine significant earnings per share growth with a low payout ratio, and VSE is halfway there. It’s a promising combination that should mark this company worthy of closer attention.
Want to learn more about VSE? Here’s a visualisation of its historical rate of revenue and earnings growth.
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.
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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.