Marksans Pharma Limited (NSE:MARKSANS) Looks Like A Good Stock, And It’s Going Ex-Dividend Soon

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it’s exciting to see Marksans Pharma Limited (NSE:MARKSANS) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is commonly two business days 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 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 Marksans Pharma’s shares before the 20th of August in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 26th of September.

The company’s next dividend payment will be ₹0.90 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed ₹0.90 to shareholders. Based on the last year’s worth of payments, Marksans Pharma has a trailing yield of 0.3% on the current stock price of ₹333.00. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

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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. Marksans Pharma has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 9.8% of its income after tax. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. What’s good is that dividends were well covered by free cash flow, with the company paying out 11% of its cash flow last year.

It’s positive to see that Marksans Pharma’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.

See our latest analysis for Marksans Pharma

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

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 fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Fortunately for readers, Marksans Pharma’s earnings per share have been growing at 14% a year for the past five years. Earnings per share have been growing rapidly and the company is retaining a majority of its earnings within the business. This will make it easier to fund future growth efforts and we think this is an attractive combination – plus the dividend can always be increased later.

Many investors will assess a company’s dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Marksans Pharma has delivered 22% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. It’s great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.

The Bottom Line

Is Marksans Pharma worth buying for its dividend? Marksans Pharma has grown its earnings per share while simultaneously reinvesting in the business. Unfortunately it’s cut the dividend at least once in the past 10 years, but the conservative payout ratio makes the current dividend look sustainable. There’s a lot to like about Marksans Pharma, and we would prioritise taking a closer look at it.

So while Marksans Pharma looks good from a dividend perspective, it’s always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. Every company has risks, and we’ve spotted 1 warning sign for Marksans Pharma you should know about.

If you’re in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top 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.