Income Investors Should Know That Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon

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 Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) is about to go ex-dividend in just 4 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. In other words, investors can purchase Scholastic's shares before the 30th of April in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 16th of June.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.20 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.80 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Scholastic has a trailing yield of 4.6% on the current share price of US$17.32. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to investigate whether Scholastic can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Scholastic paid out 122% of profit in the past year, which we think is typically not sustainable unless there are mitigating characteristics such as unusually strong cash flow or a large cash balance. 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. Dividends consumed 70% of the company's free cash flow last year, which is within a normal range for most dividend-paying organisations.

It's disappointing to see that the dividend was not covered by profits, but cash is more important from a dividend sustainability perspective, and Scholastic fortunately did generate enough cash to fund its dividend. If executives were to continue paying more in dividends than the company reported in profits, we'd view this as a warning sign. Extraordinarily few companies are capable of persistently paying a dividend that is greater than their profits.

View our latest analysis for Scholastic

Click here to see how much of its profit Scholastic paid out over the last 12 months.

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 earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Scholastic, with earnings per share up 9.5% on average over the last five years.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, Scholastic has lifted its dividend by approximately 2.9% a year on average. 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

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Scholastic? Earnings per share have not grown all that much, and the company is paying out an uncomfortably high percentage of its income. Fortunately it paid out a lower percentage of its cash flow. It's not that we think Scholastic is a bad company, but these characteristics don't generally lead to outstanding dividend performance.

Although, if you're still interested in Scholastic and want to know more, you'll find it very useful to know what risks this stock faces. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Scholastic you should be aware of.

A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks.

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This 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.