Invicta Holdings Limited (JSE:IVT) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 3 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Meaning, you will need to purchase Invicta Holdings' shares before the 2nd of August to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 7th of August.
The company's next dividend payment will be R1.00 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of R1.00 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Invicta Holdings has a trailing yield of 3.6% on the current share price of ZAR27.91. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Invicta Holdings
Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Invicta Holdings is paying out just 21% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Invicta Holdings generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Over the last year it paid out 53% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual range for most companies.
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 how much of its profit Invicta Holdings paid out over the last 12 months.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. That's why it's comforting to see Invicta Holdings's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 44% per annum for the past five years.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Invicta Holdings has seen its dividend decline 9.3% per annum on average over the past 10 years, which is not great to see. Invicta Holdings is a rare case where dividends have been decreasing at the same time as earnings per share have been improving. It's unusual to see, and could point to unstable conditions in the core business, or more rarely an intensified focus on reinvesting profits.