Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material Co., Ltd. (SZSE:301219) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible 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. Accordingly, Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material investors that purchase the stock on or after the 30th of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 30th of May.

The company's next dividend payment will be CN¥1.50 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed CN¥1.50 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material has a trailing yield of 3.4% on the current share price of CN¥44.29. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Its dividend payout ratio is 89% of profit, which means the company is paying out a majority of its earnings. The relatively limited profit reinvestment could slow the rate of future earnings growth. It could become a concern if earnings started to decline. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material paid out more free cash flow than it generated - 141%, to be precise - last year, which we think is concerningly high. It's hard to consistently pay out more cash than you generate without either borrowing or using company cash, so we'd wonder how the company justifies this payout level.

Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material does have a large net cash position on the balance sheet, which could fund large dividends for a time, if the company so chose. Still, smart investors know that it is better to assess dividends relative to the cash and profit generated by the business. Paying dividends out of cash on the balance sheet is not long-term sustainable.

While Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material's dividends were covered by the company's reported profits, cash is somewhat more important, so it's not great to see that the company didn't generate enough cash to pay its dividend. Were this to happen repeatedly, this would be a risk to Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material's ability to maintain its dividend.

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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. For this reason, we're glad to see Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material's earnings per share have risen 11% per annum over the last five years. Earnings have been growing at a decent rate, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material's dividend payments per share have declined at 6.2% per year on average over the past two years, which is uninspiring. Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material 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.

To Sum It Up

Is Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material worth buying for its dividend? Earnings per share growth is a positive, and the company's payout ratio looks normal. However, we note Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material paid out a much higher percentage of its free cash flow, which makes us uncomfortable. Overall we're not hugely bearish on the stock, but there are likely better dividend investments out there.

With that being said, if dividends aren't your biggest concern with Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material, you should know about the other risks facing this business. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Material you should be aware of.

Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.

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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.