Four Days Left Until Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Trades Ex-Dividend

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. You will need to purchase shares before the 7th of January to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of February.

Verizon Communications's upcoming dividend is US$0.63 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$2.51 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Verizon Communications has a trailing yield of 4.3% on the current stock price of $58.75. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

See our latest analysis for Verizon Communications

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Verizon Communications paid out 56% of its earnings to investors last year, a normal payout level for most businesses. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. It paid out more than half (53%) of its free cash flow in the past year, which is within an average range for most companies.

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.

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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Fortunately for readers, Verizon Communications's earnings per share have been growing at 13% a year for the past five years. Verizon Communications is paying out a bit over half its earnings, which suggests the company is striking a balance between reinvesting in growth, and paying dividends. This is a reasonable combination that could hint at some further dividend increases in the future.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Verizon Communications has delivered 2.8% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. Earnings per share have been growing much quicker than dividends, potentially because Verizon Communications is keeping back more of its profits to grow the business.

To Sum It Up

Has Verizon Communications got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Higher earnings per share generally lead to higher dividends from dividend-paying stocks over the long run. However, we'd also note that Verizon Communications is paying out more than half of its earnings and cash flow as profits, which could limit the dividend growth if earnings growth slows. In summary, while it has some positive characteristics, we're not inclined to race out and buy Verizon Communications today.

In light of that, while Verizon Communications has an appealing dividend, it's worth knowing the risks involved with this stock. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Verizon Communications that you should be aware of before investing in their 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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