Readers hoping to buy Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. In other words, investors can purchase Rockwell Automation's shares before the 16th of November in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 10th of December.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$1.45 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$5.52 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Rockwell Automation stock has a trailing yield of around 1.4% on the current share price of US$404.20. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
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. Rockwell Automation is paying out an acceptable 51% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 36% of the free cash flow it generated, which is a comfortable payout ratio.
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.
Check out our latest analysis for Rockwell Automation
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. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. With that in mind, we're not enthused to see that Rockwell Automation's earnings per share have remained effectively flat over the past five years. Better than seeing them fall off a cliff, for sure, but the best dividend stocks grow their earnings meaningfully over the long run. 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.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, Rockwell Automation has increased its dividend at approximately 6.6% a year on average.
The Bottom Line
Has Rockwell Automation got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? It's unfortunate that earnings per share have not grown, and we'd note that Rockwell Automation is paying out lower percentage of its cashflow than its profit, but overall the dividend looks well covered by earnings. While it does have some good things going for it, we're a bit ambivalent and it would take more to convince us of Rockwell Automation's dividend merits.
While it's tempting to invest in Rockwell Automation for the dividends alone, you should always be mindful of the risks involved. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Rockwell Automation you should know about.
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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.