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Rent-A-Center, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCII) Looks Like A Good Stock, And It's Going Ex-Dividend Soon

Rent-A-Center, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCII) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in four days. You will need to purchase shares before the 9th of July to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 28th of July.

Rent-A-Center's next dividend payment will be US$0.29 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.16 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Rent-A-Center stock has a trailing yield of around 4.3% on the current share price of $26.68. 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.

View our latest analysis for Rent-A-Center

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Rent-A-Center is paying out just 20% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events. 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. Luckily it paid out just 19% of its free cash flow last year.

It's positive to see that Rent-A-Center'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.

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

NasdaqGS:RCII Historic Dividend July 4th 2020
NasdaqGS:RCII Historic Dividend July 4th 2020

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. For this reason, we're glad to see Rent-A-Center's earnings per share have risen 17% per annum over the last five years. Earnings per share are growing rapidly and the company is keeping more than half of its earnings within the business; an attractive combination which could suggest the company is focused on reinvesting to grow earnings further. Fast-growing businesses that are reinvesting heavily are enticing from a dividend perspective, especially since they can often increase the payout ratio later.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the last ten years, Rent-A-Center has lifted its dividend by approximately 17% a year on average. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.

The Bottom Line

Should investors buy Rent-A-Center for the upcoming dividend? Rent-A-Center has grown its earnings per share while simultaneously reinvesting in the business. Unfortunately it's cut the dividend at least once in the past ten years, but the conservative payout ratio makes the current dividend look sustainable. It's a promising combination that should mark this company worthy of closer attention.

With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. To help with this, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Rent-A-Center that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.

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.

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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