Read This Before Considering Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) For Its Upcoming US$0.125 Dividend

Readers hoping to buy Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date, which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves a full business day. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Accordingly, Gen Digital investors that purchase the stock on or after the 18th of August will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 10th of September.

The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.125 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$0.50 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Gen Digital has a trailing yield of 1.6% on the current share price of US$31.85. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Gen Digital's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

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Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Gen Digital paid out 52% of its earnings to investors last year, a normal payout level for most businesses. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Gen Digital generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. What's good is that dividends were well covered by free cash flow, with the company paying out 23% 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.

View our latest analysis for Gen Digital

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies that aren't growing their earnings can still be valuable, but it is even more important to assess the sustainability of the dividend if it looks like the company will struggle to grow. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. It's not encouraging to see that Gen Digital's earnings are effectively flat over the past five years. We'd take that over an earnings decline any day, but in the long run, the best dividend stocks all grow their earnings per share. Earnings growth has been slim and the company is paying out more than half of its earnings. While there is some room to both increase the payout ratio and reinvest in the business, generally the higher a payout ratio goes, the lower a company's prospects for future growth.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Gen Digital's dividend payments per share have declined at 1.8% per year on average over the past 10 years, which is uninspiring.

The Bottom Line

Is Gen Digital worth buying for its dividend? Earnings per share have been flat and Gen Digital's dividend payouts are within reasonable limits; without a sharp decline in earnings we feel that the dividend is likely somewhat sustainable. To summarise, Gen Digital looks okay on this analysis, although it doesn't appear a stand-out opportunity.

With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Gen Digital (of which 1 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about.

If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.

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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.