Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see United Overseas Insurance Limited (SGX:U13) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. In other words, investors can purchase United Overseas Insurance's shares before the 4th of August in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 18th of August.
The company's next dividend payment will be S$0.085 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed S$0.25 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that United Overseas Insurance has a trailing yield of 3.7% on the current share price of SGD6.69. 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 United Overseas Insurance has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
View our latest analysis for United Overseas Insurance
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. United Overseas Insurance paid out 53% of its earnings to investors last year, a normal payout level for most businesses.
When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.
Click here to see how much of its profit United Overseas Insurance paid out over the last 12 months.
SGX:U13 Historic Dividend July 31st 2022
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. So we're not too excited that United Overseas Insurance's earnings are down 3.2% a year over 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. In the past 10 years, United Overseas Insurance has increased its dividend at approximately 5.2% a year on average. Growing the dividend payout ratio while earnings are declining can deliver nice returns for a while, but it's always worth checking for when the company can't increase the payout ratio any more - because then the music stops.
Final Takeaway
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid United Overseas Insurance? Earnings per share have been declining and the company is paying out more than half its profits to shareholders; not an enticing combination. This is not an overtly appealing combination of characteristics, and we're just not that interested in this company's dividend.
Although, if you're still interested in United Overseas Insurance 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 3 warning signs for United Overseas Insurance (2 are a bit concerning!) that you ought to be aware of before buying the shares.
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.
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.
普通读者会知道我们喜欢 Simply Wall St 的分红,这就是为什么看到它令人兴奋的原因 联合海外保险有限公司 (SGX: U13) 即将在未来 3 天内进行除息交易。除息日通常设置为记录日期之前的一个工作日,即您必须作为股东出现在公司账簿上才能获得股息的截止日期。除息日很重要,因为结算过程涉及两个完整的工作日。因此,如果你错过了那个日期,你就不会在记录日期出现在公司的账簿上。换句话说,投资者可以在8月4日之前购买联合海外保险的股票,以便有资格获得股息,股息将于8月18日支付。
该公司的下一次股息将为每股0.085新元。去年,该公司共向股东分配了0.25新元。计算去年的付款价值表明,与目前的股价6.69新加坡元相比,联合海外保险的追踪收益率为3.7%。分红是长期持有人投资回报的主要贡献者,但前提是必须继续支付股息。因此,读者应随时查看联合海外保险是否能够增加股息,或者股息是否可能被削减。
查看我们对联合海外保险的最新分析
股息通常从公司利润中支付,因此,如果公司支付的股息超过收入,则其股息被削减的风险通常更大。去年,联合海外保险将其收益的53%支付给了投资者,这是大多数企业的正常支付水平。
当一家公司支付的股息少于其赚取的利润时,这通常表明其股息是负担得起的。它支付的利润百分比越低,在业务进入低迷时分红的安全余地就越大。
点击此处查看联合海外保险在过去12个月中支付了多少利润。
新加坡证券交易所:U13 历史股息 2022 年 7 月 31 日
收益和股息一直在增长吗?
当收益下降时,分红公司变得更难分析和安全持有。如果收益下降而公司被迫削减股息,投资者可能会看到他们的投资价值化为乌有。因此,在过去五年中,联合海外保险的收益每年下降3.2%,我们并不感到兴奋。
大多数投资者评估公司股息前景的主要方法是检查历史股息增长率。在过去的10年中,联合海外保险将其股息平均每年增加约5.2%。在收益下降的同时提高股息支付率可以在一段时间内带来不错的回报,但是当公司无法再提高派息率时,总是值得一看的——因为那样音乐就会停止。
最后的外卖
从股息的角度来看,投资者应该购买还是避开联合海外保险?每股收益一直在下降,该公司向股东支付了一半以上的利润;这不是一个诱人的组合。这并不是一个极具吸引力的特征组合,我们只是对这家公司的股息不那么感兴趣。
但是,如果你仍然对联合海外保险感兴趣并想了解更多,你会发现了解这只股票面临的风险非常有用。为了帮助解决这个问题,我们发现 联合海外保险的3个警告标志 (2 有点令人担忧!)在购买股票之前,你应该知道这一点。
通常,我们不建议只买入你看到的第一只股息股票。这里是 一份精选的股息支付强劲的有趣股票清单。
对这篇文章有反馈吗?对内容感到担忧? 取得联系 直接和我们联系。 或者,给编辑团队 (at) simplywallst.com 发送电子邮件。
Simply Wall St 的这篇文章本质上是一般性的。 我们仅使用不偏不倚的方法根据历史数据和分析师预测提供评论,我们的文章并非旨在提供财务建议。 它不构成买入或卖出任何股票的建议,也没有考虑您的目标或财务状况。我们的目标是为您提供由基本面数据驱动的长期重点分析。请注意,我们的分析可能未将最新的价格敏感型公司公告或定性材料考虑在内。简而言之,华尔街对上述任何股票都没有头寸。