Why You Might Be Interested In H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL) For Its Upcoming Dividend
Readers hoping to buy H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. Investors can purchase shares before the 14th of October in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 29th of October.
H.B. Fuller's next dividend payment will be US$0.16 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.66 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, H.B. Fuller has a trailing yield of 1.3% on the current stock price of $49.99. 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! So we need to investigate whether H.B. Fuller can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
See our latest analysis for H.B. Fuller
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. That's why it's good to see H.B. Fuller paying out a modest 29% of its earnings. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether H.B. Fuller generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. The good news is it paid out just 16% of its free cash flow in the last year.
It's positive to see that H.B. Fuller's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.
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, H.B. Fuller's earnings per share have been growing at 17% a year for the past five years. Earnings per share are growing rapidly and the company is keeping more than half of its earnings within the business; an attractive combination which could suggest the company is focused on reinvesting to grow earnings further. 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. H.B. Fuller has delivered an average of 9.3% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.
The Bottom Line
Should investors buy H.B. Fuller for the upcoming dividend? H.B. Fuller has been growing earnings at a rapid rate, and has a conservatively low payout ratio, implying that it is reinvesting heavily in its business; a sterling combination. Overall we think this is an attractive combination and worthy of further research.
With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for H.B. Fuller (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you ought to be aware of before buying the shares.
A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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