Don’t Race Out To Buy American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) Just Because It’s Going Ex-Dividend

It looks like American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) is about to go ex-dividend in the next four days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 14th of January, you won’t be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 25th of January.

American Financial Group’s next dividend payment will be US$0.50 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$2.00 to shareholders. Based on the last year’s worth of payments, American Financial Group stock has a trailing yield of around 2.2{de3fc13d4eb210e6ea91a63b91641ad51ecf4a1f1306988bf846a537e7024eeb} on the current share price of $91.06. 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.

View our latest analysis for American Financial Group

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. American Financial Group paid out more than half (64{de3fc13d4eb210e6ea91a63b91641ad51ecf4a1f1306988bf846a537e7024eeb}) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies.

When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the {de3fc13d4eb210e6ea91a63b91641ad51ecf4a1f1306988bf846a537e7024eeb} of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.

Click here to see the company’s payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. American Financial Group’s earnings per share have fallen at approximately 11{de3fc13d4eb210e6ea91a63b91641ad51ecf4a1f1306988bf846a537e7024eeb} a year over the previous five years. When earnings per share fall, the maximum amount of dividends that can be paid also falls.

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Many investors will assess a company’s dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, American Financial Group has lifted its dividend by approximately 14{de3fc13d4eb210e6ea91a63b91641ad51ecf4a1f1306988bf846a537e7024eeb} a year on average. Growing the dividend payout ratio while earnings are declining can deliver nice returns for a while, but it’s always worth checking for when the company can’t increase the payout ratio any more – because then the music stops.

Final Takeaway

Has American Financial Group got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? We’re not overly enthused to see American Financial Group’s earnings in retreat at the same time as the company is paying out more than half of its earnings as dividends to shareholders. All things considered, we’re not optimistic about its dividend prospects, and would be inclined to leave it on the shelf for now.

Although, if you’re still interested in American Financial Group and want to know more, you’ll find it very useful to know what risks this stock faces. Every company has risks, and we’ve spotted 5 warning signs for American Financial Group you should know about.

We wouldn’t recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here’s a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2{de3fc13d4eb210e6ea91a63b91641ad51ecf4a1f1306988bf846a537e7024eeb} 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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