Don’t Buy Nordea Bank Abp (STO:NDA SE) For Its Next Dividend Without Doing These Checks – Yahoo Finance

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 Nordea Bank Abp (STO:NDA SE) is about to go ex-dividend in just 4 days. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 26th of March will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 3rd of April.

Nordea Bank Abp’s next dividend payment will be kr0.40 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of kr0.40 to shareholders. Based on the last year’s worth of payments, Nordea Bank Abp has a trailing yield of 8.1% on the current stock price of SEK54.3. 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! So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

View our latest analysis for Nordea Bank Abp

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Nordea Bank Abp paid out 106% of its earnings, which is more than we’re comfortable with, unless there are mitigating circumstances.

When a company pays out a dividend that is not well covered by profits, the dividend is generally seen as more vulnerable to being cut.

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. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Nordea Bank Abp’s earnings per share have fallen at approximately 15% a year over the previous five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.

The main way most investors will assess a company’s dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Nordea Bank Abp has delivered 4.8% dividend growth per year on average over the past ten years. The only way to pay higher dividends when earnings are shrinking is either to pay out a larger percentage of profits, spend cash from the balance sheet, or borrow the money. Nordea Bank Abp is already paying out a high percentage of its income, so without earnings growth, we’re doubtful of whether this dividend will grow much in the future.

The Bottom Line

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Nordea Bank Abp? Not only are earnings per share shrinking, but Nordea Bank Abp is paying out a disconcertingly high percentage of its profit as dividends. Generally we think dividend investors should avoid businesses in this situation, as high payout ratios and declining earnings can lead to the dividend being cut. Nordea Bank Abp doesn’t appear to have a lot going for it, and we’re not inclined to take a risk on owning it for the dividend.

So if you’re still interested in Nordea Bank Abp despite it’s poor dividend qualities, you should be well informed on some of the risks facing this stock. Every company has risks, and we’ve spotted 4 warning signs for Nordea Bank Abp you should know about.

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.