Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Is About To Go Ex-Dividend, And It Pays A 1.9% Yield

NYSE:WM) is about to go ex-dividend in just 3 days. You can purchase shares before the 3rd of September in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 18th of September.” data-reactid=”28″>Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you’re one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) is about to go ex-dividend in just 3 days. You can purchase shares before the 3rd of September in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 18th of September.

Waste Management’s next dividend payment will be US$0.55 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$2.18 to shareholders. Based on the last year’s worth of payments, Waste Management has a trailing yield of 1.9% on the current stock price of $114.01. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether Waste Management has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for Waste Management ” data-reactid=”30″> Check out our latest analysis for Waste Management

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. Waste Management paid out 56% of its earnings to investors last year, a normal payout level for most businesses. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. It distributed 47% of its free cash flow as dividends, a comfortable payout level for most companies.

It’s positive to see that Waste Management’s dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

here to see the company’s payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.” data-reactid=”37″>Click here to see the company’s payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

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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 business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. This is why it’s a relief to see Waste Management earnings per share are up 6.2% per annum over the last five years. Decent historical earnings per share growth suggests Waste Management has been effectively growing value for shareholders. However, it’s now paying out more than half its earnings as dividends. If management lifts the payout ratio further, we’d take this as a tacit signal that the company’s growth prospects are slowing.

Many investors will assess a company’s dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Waste Management has delivered an average of 6.5% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. 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.

To Sum It Up

Has Waste Management got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Earnings per share growth has been modest and Waste Management paid out over half of its profits and less than half of its free cash flow, although both payout ratios are within normal limits. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about Waste Management from a dividend perspective.