Is It Worth Considering Cadre Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CDRE) For Its Upcoming Dividend?

Cadre Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CDRE) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 3 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. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. This means that investors who purchase Cadre Holdings' shares on or after the 1st of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 15th of May. The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.10 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$0.40 per share to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Cadre Holdings has a trailing yield of 1.4% on the current share price of US$29.46. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing. We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free. Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. That's why it's good to see Cadre Holdings paying out a modest 35% of its earnings. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Cadre Holdings generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Fortunately, it paid out only 27% of its free cash flow in the past year. It's positive to see that Cadre Holdings's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut. See our latest analysis for Cadre Holdings Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends. Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing? Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Cadre Holdings's earnings per share have dropped 5.9% a year over the past five years. When earnings per share fall, the maximum amount of dividends that can be paid also falls. Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Cadre Holdings has delivered an average of 5.7% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past four years of dividend payments. The Bottom Line Is Cadre Holdings worth buying for its dividend? Earnings per share are down meaningfully, although at least the company is paying out a low and conservative percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. It's definitely not great to see earnings falling, but at least there may be some buffer before the dividend needs to be cut. Overall we're not hugely bearish on the stock, but there are likely better dividend investments out there. With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Cadre Holdings that you should be aware of before investing in their shares. If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.