23-03-2025
Sports Toto Berhad (KLSE:SPTOTO) Stock Goes Ex-Dividend In Just Three Days
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Sports Toto Berhad (KLSE:SPTOTO) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next three days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is two business days before the record date, which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves at least two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Thus, you can purchase Sports Toto Berhad's shares before the 27th of March in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 18th of April.
The company's next dividend payment will be RM00.02 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed RM0.08 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Sports Toto Berhad has a trailing yield of 5.7% on the current stock price of RM01.41. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free.
Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Sports Toto Berhad paid out more than half (54%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies. 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. Fortunately, it paid out only 26% of its free cash flow in the past 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.
View our latest analysis for Sports Toto Berhad
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Companies that aren't growing their earnings can still be valuable, but it is even more important to assess the sustainability of the dividend if it looks like the company will struggle to grow. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. With that in mind, we're not enthused to see that Sports Toto Berhad's earnings per share have remained effectively flat over the past five years. We'd take that over an earnings decline any day, but in the long run, the best dividend stocks all grow their earnings per share.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Sports Toto Berhad's dividend payments per share have declined at 7.3% per year on average over the past 10 years, which is uninspiring.
Is Sports Toto Berhad worth buying for its dividend? The payout ratios appear reasonably conservative, which implies the dividend may be somewhat sustainable. Still, with earnings basically flat, Sports Toto Berhad doesn't stand out from a dividend perspective. In summary, while it has some positive characteristics, we're not inclined to race out and buy Sports Toto Berhad today.
However if you're still interested in Sports Toto Berhad as a potential investment, you should definitely consider some of the risks involved with Sports Toto Berhad. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Sports Toto Berhad you should be aware of.
Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.
