Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSE:CTC.A) Will Pay A CA$1.14 Dividend In 3 Days
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSE:CTC.A) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 30th of January will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of March.
Canadian Tire Corporation's next dividend payment will be CA$1.14 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed CA$4.55 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Canadian Tire Corporation has a trailing yield of 3.1% on the current stock price of CA$144.92. 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! As a result, readers should always check whether Canadian Tire Corporation has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
View our latest analysis for Canadian Tire Corporation
Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. That's why it's good to see Canadian Tire Corporation paying out a modest 37% of its earnings. 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. Canadian Tire Corporation paid out more free cash flow than it generated - 124%, 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.
Canadian Tire Corporation paid out less in dividends than it reported in profits, but unfortunately it didn't generate enough cash to cover the dividend. Cash is king, as they say, and were Canadian Tire Corporation to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. 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, Canadian Tire Corporation's earnings per share have been growing at 10% a year for the past 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.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the past ten years, Canadian Tire Corporation has increased its dividend at approximately 18% a year on average. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.
The Bottom Line
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Canadian Tire Corporation? We like that Canadian Tire Corporation has been successfully growing its earnings per share at a nice rate and reinvesting most of its profits in the business. However, we note the high cashflow payout ratio with some concern. Overall we're not hugely bearish on the stock, but there are likely better dividend investments out there.
Curious what other investors think of Canadian Tire Corporation? See what analysts are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow.
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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