GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) Passed Our Checks, And It's About To Pay A US$0.13 Dividend

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. This means that investors who purchase GeoPark's shares on or after the 21st of March will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 31st of March.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.13 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.51 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, GeoPark has a trailing yield of approximately 4.8% on its current stock price of $10.93. 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 GeoPark has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for GeoPark

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. GeoPark has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 12% 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. The good news is it paid out just 8.1% of its free cash flow in the 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 the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. For this reason, we're glad to see GeoPark's earnings per share have risen 16% per annum over the last five years. Earnings per share are growing rapidly and the company is keeping more than half of its earnings within the business; an attractive combination which could suggest the company is focused on reinvesting to grow earnings further. This will make it easier to fund future growth efforts and we think this is an attractive combination - plus the dividend can always be increased later.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. GeoPark has delivered an average of 47% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past three years of dividend payments. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.

To Sum It Up

Has GeoPark got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? GeoPark has grown its earnings per share while simultaneously reinvesting in the business. Unfortunately it's cut the dividend at least once in the past three years, but the conservative payout ratio makes the current dividend look sustainable. Overall we think this is an attractive combination and worthy of further research.

On that note, you'll want to research what risks GeoPark is facing. Be aware that GeoPark is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those can'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.