Do These 3 Checks Before Buying Yeo Hiap Seng Limited (SGX:Y03) For Its Upcoming Dividend

Yeo Hiap Seng Limited (SGX:Y03) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in four days. The ex-dividend date is two business days before a company's record date in most cases, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade can take two business days or more to settle. Accordingly, Yeo Hiap Seng investors that purchase the stock on or after the 5th of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 20th of June.

The company's next dividend payment will be S$0.02 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of S$0.02 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Yeo Hiap Seng has a trailing yield of approximately 3.6% on its current stock price of S$0.56. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are 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. Yeo Hiap Seng paid out 181% of profit in the past year, which we think is typically not sustainable unless there are mitigating characteristics such as unusually strong cash flow or a large cash balance. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Yeo Hiap Seng generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. It paid out more than half (64%) of its free cash flow in the past year, which is within an average range for most companies.

It's disappointing to see that the dividend was not covered by profits, but cash is more important from a dividend sustainability perspective, and Yeo Hiap Seng fortunately did generate enough cash to fund its dividend. If executives were to continue paying more in dividends than the company reported in profits, we'd view this as a warning sign. Very few companies are able to sustainably pay dividends larger than their reported earnings.

View our latest analysis for Yeo Hiap Seng

Click here to see how much of its profit Yeo Hiap Seng paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Yeo Hiap Seng's earnings per share have dropped 18% a year over the past five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. It looks like the Yeo Hiap Seng dividends are largely the same as they were 10 years ago. If a company's dividend stays flat while earnings are in decline, this is typically a sign that it is paying out a larger percentage of its earnings. This can become unsustainable if earnings fall far enough.

Final Takeaway

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Yeo Hiap Seng? It's never fun to see a company's earnings per share in retreat. Additionally, Yeo Hiap Seng is paying out quite a high percentage of its earnings, and more than half its cash flow, so it's hard to evaluate whether the company is reinvesting enough in its business to improve its situation. It's not that we think Yeo Hiap Seng is a bad company, but these characteristics don't generally lead to outstanding dividend performance.

Having said that, if you're looking at this stock without much concern for the dividend, you should still be familiar of the risks involved with Yeo Hiap Seng. For example - Yeo Hiap Seng has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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