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It looks like Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. You will need to purchase shares before the 27th of September to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 15th of October.
Monolithic Power Systems's next dividend payment will be US$0.4 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.6 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Monolithic Power Systems has a trailing yield of approximately 1.0% on its current stock price of $154.27. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Monolithic Power Systems's dividend is reliable and sustainable. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
See our latest analysis for Monolithic Power Systems
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Monolithic Power Systems paid out more than half (56%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. Dividends consumed 59% of the company's free cash flow last year, which is within a normal range for most dividend-paying organisations.
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.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. It's encouraging to see Monolithic Power Systems has grown its earnings rapidly, up 32% a year for the past five years. The current payout ratio suggests a good balance between rewarding shareholders with dividends, and reinvesting in growth. Earnings per share have been growing quickly and in combination with some reinvestment and a middling payout ratio, the stock may have decent dividend prospects going forwards.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, five years ago, Monolithic Power Systems has lifted its dividend by approximately 22% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.