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The board of Lifetime Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCUT) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.0425 per share on the 15th of May. Based on this payment, the dividend yield on the company's stock will be 3.0%, which is an attractive boost to shareholder returns.
See our latest analysis for Lifetime Brands
Lifetime Brands Might Find It Hard To Continue The Dividend
While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. While Lifetime Brands is not profitable, it is paying out less than 75% of its free cash flow, which means that there is plenty left over for reinvestment into the business. We generally think that cash flow is more important than accounting measures of profit, so we are fairly comfortable with the dividend at this level.
Over the next year, EPS is forecast to rise by 37.2%. While it is good to see income moving in the right direction, it still looks like the company won't achieve profitability. The healthy cash flows are definitely a good sign though, so we wouldn't panic just yet, especially with the earnings growing.
Lifetime Brands Has A Solid Track Record
The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $0.10 in 2013, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $0.17. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 5.4% a year over that time. Companies like this can be very valuable over the long term, if the decent rate of growth can be maintained.
The Company Could Face Some Challenges Growing The Dividend
The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. It's encouraging to see that Lifetime Brands has been growing its earnings per share at 25% a year over the past five years. While the company hasn't yet recorded a profit, the growth rates are healthy. If profitability can be achieved soon and growth continues apace, this stock could certainly turn into a solid dividend payer.
In Summary
Overall, it's nice to see a consistent dividend payment, but we think that longer term, the current level of payment might be unsustainable. The company has been bring in plenty of cash to cover the dividend, but we don't necessarily think that makes it a great dividend stock. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock.
Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Lifetime Brands that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.