DRDGOLD Limited (NYSE:DRD) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 days time. Investors can purchase shares before the 5th of March in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 19th of March.
DRDGOLD’s next dividend payment will be US$0.13 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$2.50 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, DRDGOLD has a trailing yield of approximately 2.6% on its current stock price of $6.1. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. As a result, readers should always check whether DRDGOLD has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
Check out our latest analysis for DRDGOLD
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. DRDGOLD is paying out an acceptable 68% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. 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. It paid out 22% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservatively low.
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 DRDGOLD paid out over the last 12 months.
NYSE:DRD Historical Dividend Yield, February 29th 2020
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 business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. For this reason, we’re glad to see DRDGOLD’s earnings per share have risen 15% per annum over the last five years. DRDGOLD has an average payout ratio which suggests a balance between growing earnings and rewarding shareholders. Given the quick rate of earnings per share growth and current level of payout, there may be a chance of further dividend increases in the future.
Many investors will assess a company’s dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Since the start of our data, ten years ago, DRDGOLD has lifted its dividend by approximately 17% a year on average. It’s exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.
To Sum It Up
Should investors buy DRDGOLD for the upcoming dividend? We like DRDGOLD’s growing earnings per share and the fact that – while its payout ratio is around average – it paid out a lower percentage of its cash flow. Overall we think this is an attractive combination and worthy of further research.
Want to learn more about DRDGOLD’s dividend performance? Check out this visualisation of its historical revenue and earnings growth.
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.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
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