Investors who want to cash in on Safety Income & Growth Inc’s (NYSE:SAFE) upcoming dividend of $0.15 per share have only 3 days left to buy the shares before its ex-dividend date, 28 December 2017, in time for dividends payable on the 16 January 2018. Is this future income stream a compelling catalyst for dividend investors to think about the stock as an investment today? Let’s take a look at Safety Income & Growth’s most recent financial data to examine its dividend characteristics in more detail. See our latest analysis for Safety Income & Growth
5 questions I ask before picking a dividend stock
Whenever I am looking at a potential dividend stock investment, I always check these five metrics:
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Is their annual yield among the top 25% of dividend payers?
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Does it consistently pay out dividends without missing a payment of significantly cutting payout?
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Has it increased its dividend per share amount over the past?
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Does earnings amply cover its dividend payments?
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Will the company be able to keep paying dividend based on the future earnings growth?
How well does Safety Income & Growth fit our criteria?
Safety Income & Growth has a payout ratio of more than 200% of earnings, which suggests that the dividend is not well-covered by earnings by any means. Furthermore, analysts have not forecasted a dividends per share for the future, which makes it hard to determine the yield shareholders should expect, and whether the current payout is sustainable, moving forward. If there’s one type of stock you want to be reliable, it’s dividend stocks and their stable income-generating ability. Unfortunately, it is really too early to view Safety Income & Growth as a dividend investment. It has only been paying out dividend for the past one year. Generally, the rule of thumb for determining whether a stock is a reliable dividend payer is that it should be consistently paying dividends for the past 10 years or more. Clearly there’s a long road ahead before we can ascertain whether SAFE one as a stable dividend player. Relative to peers, Safety Income & Growth has a yield of 3.42%, which is on the low-side for reits stocks.
What this means for you:
Are you a shareholder? Investors may not have the best feeling about their investment in Safety Income & Growth right now, in terms of its dividend attributes. It may be worth exploring other dividend stocks as alternatives to Safety Income & Growth or even look at high-growth stocks to supplement your steady income stocks. I suggest continuing your research by taking a look at my interactive free list of dividend rockstars as well as high-growth stocks to potentially add to your holdings.