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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 Toromont Industries Ltd. (TSE:TIH) is about to go ex-dividend in just 4 days. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 4th of September will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 2nd of October.
Toromont Industries's upcoming dividend is CA$0.31 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of CA$1.24 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Toromont Industries has a trailing yield of 1.7% on the current share price of CA$74.3. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Toromont Industries
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately Toromont Industries's payout ratio is modest, at just 37% of profit. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Toromont Industries generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Thankfully its dividend payments took up just 26% 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.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Fortunately for readers, Toromont Industries's earnings per share have been growing at 13% a year for the past five years. The company has managed to grow earnings at a rapid rate, while reinvesting most of the profits within the business. Fast-growing businesses that are reinvesting heavily are enticing from a dividend perspective, especially since they can often increase the payout ratio later.
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, Toromont Industries has increased its dividend at approximately 7.5% a year on average. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.