Is Buying Natural Resource Partners LP. (NYSE:NRP) For Its Upcoming $0.45 Dividend A Good Choice?

Attention dividend hunters! Natural Resource Partners LP. (NYSE:NRP) will be distributing its dividend of $0.45 per share on the 14 May 2018, and will start trading ex-dividend in 3 days time on the 04 May 2018. Is this future income stream a compelling catalyst for dividend investors to think about the stock as an investment today? Let's take a look at Natural Resource Partners's most recent financial data to examine its dividend characteristics in more detail. Check out our latest analysis for Natural Resource Partners

5 checks you should do on a dividend stock

Whenever I am looking at a potential dividend stock investment, I always check these five metrics:

• 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 it increased its dividend per share amount over the past?
• Can it afford to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings?
• Will it have the ability to keep paying its dividends going forward?

How well does Natural Resource Partners fit our criteria?

Natural Resource Partners has a trailing twelve-month payout ratio of 35.23%, meaning the dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Going forward, analysts expect NRP's payout to remain around the same level at 32.62% of its earnings, which leads to a dividend yield of 5.29%. In addition to this, EPS is forecasted to fall to $4.62 in the upcoming year. If there is one thing that you want to be reliable in your life, it's dividend stocks and their constant income stream. Not only have dividend payouts from Natural Resource Partners fallen over the past 10 years, it has also been highly volatile during this time, with drops of over 25% in some years. These characteristics do not bode well for income investors seeking reliable stream of dividends. Relative to peers, Natural Resource Partners generates a yield of 5.29%, which is high for Oil and Gas stocks.

Next Steps:

With this in mind, I definitely rank Natural Resource Partners as a strong dividend stock, and makes it worth further research for anyone who likes steady income generation from their portfolio. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I recommend taking sufficient time to understand its core business and determine whether the company and its investment properties suit your overall goals. Below, I've compiled three important factors you should look at:

1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for NRP’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for NRP’s outlook.
2. Valuation: What is NRP 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 NRP is currently mispriced by the market.
3. Other Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.

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Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article 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.