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NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH) Could Be A Buy For Its Upcoming Dividend

NRW Holdings Limited (ASX:NWH) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in four days. You can purchase shares before the 28th of September in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 14th of October.

NRW Holdings's next dividend payment will be AU$0.04 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of AU$0.08 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, NRW Holdings has a trailing yield of 3.7% on the current stock price of A$2.17. 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 NRW Holdings has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for NRW Holdings

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately NRW Holdings's payout ratio is modest, at just 36% of profit. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether NRW Holdings generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. The good news is it paid out just 14% of its free cash flow in the last year.

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 the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

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historic-dividend

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. That's why it's comforting to see NRW Holdings's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 66% per annum for the past five years. NRW Holdings is paying out less than half its earnings and cash flow, while simultaneously growing earnings per share at a rapid clip. Companies with growing earnings and low payout ratios are often the best long-term dividend stocks, as the company can both grow its earnings and increase the percentage of earnings that it pays out, essentially multiplying the dividend.

NRW Holdings also issued more than 5% of its market cap in new stock during the past year, which we feel is likely to hurt its dividend prospects in the long run. Trying to grow the dividend while issuing large amounts of new shares reminds us of the ancient Greek tale of Sisyphus - perpetually pushing a boulder uphill.

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, NRW Holdings has increased its dividend at approximately 7.2% a year on average. 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

Is NRW Holdings worth buying for its dividend? It's great that NRW Holdings is growing earnings per share while simultaneously paying out a low percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. It's disappointing to see the dividend has been cut at least once in the past, but as things stand now, the low payout ratio suggests a conservative approach to dividends, which we like. Overall we think this is an attractive combination and worthy of further research.

So while NRW Holdings looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. Our analysis shows 3 warning signs for NRW Holdings and you should be aware of them before buying any 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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