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 Lam Soon (Hong Kong) Limited (HKG:411) is about to go ex-dividend in just four days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. 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. In other words, investors can purchase Lam Soon (Hong Kong)'s shares before the 6th of March in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 20th of March.

The company's next dividend payment will be HK$0.13 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of HK$0.30 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Lam Soon (Hong Kong) has a trailing yield of 3.3% on the current share price of HK$9.20. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Lam Soon (Hong Kong)'s dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

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. Lam Soon (Hong Kong) paid out a comfortable 45% of its profit last year. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. The company paid out 92% of its free cash flow over the last year, which we think is outside the ideal range for most businesses. Cash flows are usually much more volatile than earnings, so this could be a temporary effect - but we'd generally want to look more closely here.

Lam Soon (Hong Kong) paid out less in dividends than it reported in profits, but unfortunately it didn't generate enough cash to cover the dividend. Cash is king, as they say, and were Lam Soon (Hong Kong) to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign.

Click here to see how much of its profit Lam Soon (Hong Kong) paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. With that in mind, we're discomforted by Lam Soon (Hong Kong)'s 12% per annum decline in earnings in the past five years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the last 10 years, Lam Soon (Hong Kong) has lifted its dividend by approximately 9.6% a year on average.

To Sum It Up

Has Lam Soon (Hong Kong) got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? It's disappointing to see earnings per share declining, and this would ordinarily be enough to discourage us from most dividend stocks, even though Lam Soon (Hong Kong) is paying out less than half its income as dividends. However, it's also paying out an uncomfortably high percentage of its cash flow, which makes us wonder just how sustainable the dividend really is. With the way things are shaping up from a dividend perspective, we'd be inclined to steer clear of Lam Soon (Hong Kong).

Although, if you're still interested in Lam Soon (Hong Kong) and want to know more, you'll find it very useful to know what risks this stock faces. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Lam Soon (Hong Kong) (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you ought to be aware of before buying the shares.

If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.