What does dividend per share show
Simply put, dividends per share (DPS) are all the declared divided added offered by a company in place of all ordinary shares that are outstanding. The variable is estimated by dividing the total dividends paid out by the business in question. The dividends are inclusive of interim dividends during the period by the total number of ordinary shares outstanding.
As a thumb rule, DPS is determined using the dividend paid most recently.
Importance of DPS
DPS is an important variable for investors. This is because DPS is the amount of money a company pays out. For investors, DPS is the most important factor that helps them judge whether they should move ahead to by the share.
When the DS for a given company keeps on rising, it’s indicative of the company’s positive performance. It also signs that they earning keep on increasing. Thus, by keeping on closely watching DPS, you can decide how profitable the company is.
What you can know from DPS
DPS connotes the total amount of dividends in all that the company pays for one year (12 months). A company uses the estimate of DPS to distribute share profits with its shareholders.
To investors, DPS is a great tool. It can tell them about the performance in the past of a company financially in the past.
It can also show the present state of financial health. For instance, company XYZ having a DPS of $80 last year this year, it’s not going to pay dividends to shareholders. This can make investors judge
that the company is not in a good financial stance enough to pay dividends out. That is, its financial health has gone bad. It can also give the impression that the company cannot withstand the current shocks in the market.
A dip DPS is likely to trigger fears and investors and they may start selling the share XYZ company. All this leads to a decline in the price of the share.
But it’s important to note that even if a company defers payment of dividends or fails to pay them to shareholders, it’s not immediately indicative of poor financial health of the company. Maybe, the company has decided to plow back profits.
Company XYZ did not pay dividends because it’s going to use the profits to reinvest into the company to generate new products. The reinvestment thus made into the business is likely to create higher dividends in the long run.
Dividends hiked
Further, the Company UVW has paid dividends steadily without missing at 80% per share. This year, the company hikes its dividends to $1.50 per share. This indicates that the company is doing financial doing well and is stable given the current market situation.
Further, a rise in DPS also signifies the superior quality at the leadership level in the company and that they feel confident about the future success of the company.
Formula to estimate DPS – How dividend per share is calculated
Like other financial market variables, DPS can also be estimated by a standard formula. It’s as follows:
Dividends per share = Total dividends pay / Number of shares
In this formula, the annual average (weighed) of shares outstanding is used. This average can also be used to estimate the earnings per share.
The numerator in the NPS formula shows the total number of shares.
It’s important to note that the number of times that a company pays out dividends may determine the way DPS is determined.
The other form of the formula is that DPS is equal to earnings per share multiplied by the ratio of dividend paid out.
That is the DPS = Earnings per share x ratio of dividend payout.
DPS – an important metric in accounting
Dividends constitute an important income for shareholders of a company. That is why dividends per share constitute a single measure to judge how much cash inflow that can accrue to you.
While earning per share shows the extent of profitability of a company according to its net income for each share outstanding that it has issued, the DPS tantamount to the amount of cash flows a shareholder gets on per square. Thus, the total earning because of DPS is equal to as many times the DPS as the number of shares that the shareholder has.
Note also that both earning per share and dividend per share strong indicators of the financial health of a company. Thus, the objective is the same. both of them are used by investors wanting to break down and analyze the profitability and outlook of a company.
Dividend per share calculator
Earnings per share
Earnings per share, of course, show how well a company is doing financially. Earnings per share is the company’s net income accruing to each share. In general, companies report earnings per share adjusted for other items (extraordinary items and dilution of potential share).
For instance, WXYZ company has 10 million shares outstanding has accrued an net income of $1 million and paid out divided of 500,000 to its proffered stokehold for the last fiscal year. The earnings per share are $0.5.
Earnings per share (EPS) are of two types: basic and diluted EPS. The basic EPS does not take into account the effect of dilution of shares are enforced by the company. When the capital of a company covers warrants, stock options, restricted stock units (RSU), these investments when come to play their role, can increase the total number of shares outstanding.
Therefore, you should not get confused while considering DPS and EPS. While both indicate the financial health of a company, they are estimated based on two distinct estimates.
Conclusion
DPS is an important concept in financial markets analysis. Whether you’ve expert knowledge or are just familiar with the concept, they are useful tools that help you to judge the quality of how healthy a company is. Next time when you venture out to invest in shares of in a given stock that you think can give good outcome, take into account DPS. This is because DPS can give an idea if you should spend time and wait as of now, or skip the stock and go for others. DPS, thus, indicates not only how healthy a company is but the vision of the leadership at the top. These factors should play a significant role in deciding if you should go to invest in a given stock.
