Readers hoping to buy Playtika Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:PLTK) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least one business day to settle. Therefore, if you purchase Playtika Holding's shares on or after the 21st of March, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 4th of April.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.10 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.40 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Playtika Holding has a trailing yield of 8.7% on the current share price of US$4.58. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

See our latest analysis for Playtika Holding

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. Last year, Playtika Holding paid out 92% of its income as dividends, which is above a level that we're comfortable with, especially if the company needs to reinvest in its business. 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. Fortunately, it paid out only 28% of its free cash flow in the past year.

It's good to see that while Playtika Holding's dividends were not well covered by profits, at least they are affordable from a cash perspective. Still, if the company continues paying out such a high percentage of its profits, the dividend could be at risk if business turns sour.

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

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Playtika Holding's earnings per share have dropped 11% a year over the past five years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.

Given that Playtika Holding has only been paying a dividend for a year, there's not much of a past history to draw insight from.

Final Takeaway

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Playtika Holding? It's not a great combination to see a company with earnings in decline and paying out 92% of its profits, which could imply the dividend may be at risk of being cut in the future. Yet cashflow was much stronger, which makes us wonder if there are some large timing issues in Playtika Holding's cash flows, or perhaps the company has written down some assets aggressively, reducing its income. Bottom line: Playtika Holding has some unfortunate characteristics that we think could lead to sub-optimal outcomes for dividend investors.

So if you're still interested in Playtika Holding despite it's poor dividend qualities, you should be well informed on some of the risks facing this stock. To help with this, we've discovered 5 warning signs for Playtika Holding that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.

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.

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