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Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that The Andhra Sugars Limited (NSE:ANDHRSUGAR) is about to go ex-dividend in just 3 days. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 12th of September will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 5th of October.
Andhra Sugars's next dividend payment will be ₹10.00 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of ₹10.00 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Andhra Sugars has a trailing yield of 3.5% on the current share price of ₹288.75. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether Andhra Sugars has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
Check out our latest analysis for Andhra Sugars
Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Andhra Sugars has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 14% of its income after tax.
Click here to see how much of its profit Andhra Sugars paid out over the last 12 months.
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 fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. That's why it's comforting to see Andhra Sugars's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 30% per annum for the past five years. Andhra Sugars looks like a real growth company, with earnings per share growing at a cracking pace and the company reinvesting most of its profits in the business.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the last 10 years, Andhra Sugars has lifted its dividend by approximately 5.2% a year on average. It's good to see both earnings and the dividend have improved - although the former has been rising much quicker than the latter, possibly due to the company reinvesting more of its profits in growth.
To Sum It Up
Should investors buy Andhra Sugars for the upcoming dividend? Andhra Sugars has grown its earnings per share while simultaneously reinvesting in the business. Unfortunately it's cut the dividend at least once in the past ten years, but the conservative payout ratio makes the current dividend look sustainable. Overall we think this is an attractive combination and worthy of further research.