Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. 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, Universal Insurance Holdings investors that purchase the stock on or after the 9th of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 17th of May.
The company'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$0.77 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Universal Insurance Holdings has a trailing yield of 3.9% on the current share price of US$19.81. 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 Universal Insurance Holdings can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
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. Universal Insurance Holdings paid out just 25% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances.
Companies that pay out less in dividends than they earn in profits generally have more sustainable dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more wiggle room the business has before it could be forced to cut the dividend.
Click here to see how much of its profit Universal Insurance Holdings paid out over the last 12 months.
NYSE:UVE Historic Dividend May 5th 2024
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. That's why it's not ideal to see Universal Insurance Holdings's earnings per share have been shrinking at 4.6% a year over the previous five years.
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, Universal Insurance Holdings has lifted its dividend by approximately 8.5% a year on average.
To Sum It Up
Should investors buy Universal Insurance Holdings for the upcoming dividend? Universal Insurance Holdings's earnings per share are down over the past five years, although it has the cushion of a low payout ratio, which would suggest a cut to the dividend is relatively unlikely. It might be worth researching if the company is reinvesting in growth projects that could grow earnings and dividends in the future, but for now we're on the fence about its dividend prospects.
With that being said, if dividends aren't your biggest concern with Universal Insurance Holdings, you should know about the other risks facing this business. For example, we've found 1 warning sign for Universal Insurance Holdings that we recommend you consider before investing in the business.
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.
普通讀者會知道我們喜歡Simply Wall St的股息,這就是爲什麼看到環球保險控股公司(紐約證券交易所代碼:UVE)即將在未來三天內進行除息交易令人興奮的原因。除息日是記錄日期前的一個工作日,這是股東在公司賬簿上有資格獲得股息的截止日期。注意除息日很重要,因爲任何股票交易都必須在記錄日當天或之前結算。因此,在5月9日當天或之後購買股票的環球保險控股投資者將不會獲得股息,股息將在5月17日支付。
該公司的下一次股息將爲每股0.16美元,去年該公司向股東共支付了0.77美元。去年的股息支付總額顯示,環球保險控股的尾隨收益率爲3.9%,而目前的股價爲19.81美元。我們喜歡看到公司派發股息,但同樣重要的是要確保產下金蛋不會殺死我們的金鵝!因此,我們需要調查環球保險控股公司能否負擔得起股息,以及股息是否可能增長。
股息通常從公司收入中支付,因此,如果公司支付的股息超過其收入,則其股息被削減的風險通常更高。環球保險控股公司去年僅支付了其利潤的25%,我們認爲該利潤保守地較低,爲意外情況留下了充足的利潤。
支付的股息少於利潤的公司通常會獲得更可持續的股息。派息率越低,企業在被迫削減股息之前的迴旋餘地就越大。
點擊此處查看環球保險控股在過去12個月中支付了多少利潤。
紐約證券交易所:UVE 歷史股息 2024 年 5 月 5 日
收益和股息一直在增長嗎?
從股息的角度來看,收益萎縮的企業很棘手。如果收益下降而公司被迫削減股息,投資者可能會看到他們的投資價值化爲烏有。這就是爲什麼環球保險控股的每股收益在過去五年中每年萎縮4.6%並不理想的原因。
許多投資者將通過評估股息支付在一段時間內發生了多大變化來評估公司的股息表現。在過去的10年中,環球保險控股公司平均每年將股息提高約8.5%。
總結一下
投資者是否應該爲即將到來的股息購買環球保險控股公司?環球保險控股公司的每股收益在過去五年中有所下降,儘管它有低派息率的緩衝,這表明削減股息的可能性相對較小。該公司是否對未來可能增加收益和股息的增長項目進行再投資,可能值得研究,但就目前而言,我們對其分紅前景持謹慎態度。
話雖如此,如果分紅不是您在環球保險控股公司中最關心的問題,那麼您應該了解該業務面臨的其他風險。例如,我們發現了環球保險控股公司的1個警告信號,建議您在投資該業務之前考慮一下。
通常,我們不建議只購買你看到的第一隻股息股票。以下是精選的具有強大股息支付能力的有趣股票清單。
對這篇文章有反饋嗎?對內容感到擔憂嗎?請直接聯繫我們。或者,也可以發送電子郵件至編輯團隊 (at) simplywallst.com。
Simply Wall St的這篇文章本質上是籠統的。我們僅使用公正的方法根據歷史數據和分析師的預測提供評論,我們的文章無意作爲財務建議。它不構成買入或賣出任何股票的建議,也沒有考慮到您的目標或財務狀況。我們的目標是爲您提供由基本數據驅動的長期重點分析。請注意,我們的分析可能不考慮最新的價格敏感型公司公告或定性材料。簡而言之,華爾街沒有持有任何上述股票的頭寸。