U.S. Global Investors' (NASDAQ:GROW) Dividend Will Be $0.0075

U.S. Global Investors, Inc. (NASDAQ:GROW) will pay a dividend of $0.0075 on the 26th of January. Based on this payment, the dividend yield on the company's stock will be 3.7%, which is an attractive boost to shareholder returns.

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U.S. Global Investors' Projections Indicate Future Payments May Be Unsustainable

A big dividend yield for a few years doesn't mean much if it can't be sustained. Before this announcement, U.S. Global Investors was paying out 138% of what it was earning, and not generating any free cash flows either. This high of a dividend payment could start to put pressure on the balance sheet in the future.

Over the next year, EPS could expand by 1.1% if the company continues along the path it has been on recently. However, if the dividend continues along recent trends, it could start putting pressure on the balance sheet with the payout ratio reaching 148% over the next year.

Check out our latest analysis for U.S. Global Investors

Dividend Volatility

While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $0.06 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $0.09. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 4.1% a year over that time. We're glad to see the dividend has risen, but with a limited rate of growth and fluctuations in the payments the total shareholder return may be limited.

The Dividend's Growth Prospects Are Limited

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Although it's important to note that U.S. Global Investors' earnings per share has basically not grown from where it was five years ago, which could erode the purchasing power of the dividend over time. So the company has struggled to grow its EPS yet it's still paying out 138% of its earnings. As they say in finance, 'past performance is not indicative of future performance', but we are not confident a company with limited earnings growth and a high payout ratio will be a star dividend-payer over the next decade.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about U.S. Global Investors' payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. The track record isn't great, and the payments are a bit high to be considered sustainable. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. To that end, U.S. Global Investors has 4 warning signs (and 2 which don't sit too well with us) we think you should know about. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.

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