eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves a full business day. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Therefore, if you purchase eBay's shares on or after the 30th of May, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 13th of June.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.29 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$1.16 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, eBay stock has a trailing yield of around 1.6% on the current share price of US$71.92. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether eBay's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

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Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Fortunately eBay's payout ratio is modest, at just 26% of profit. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. It paid out 25% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservatively low.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

View our latest analysis for eBay

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.NasdaqGS:EBAY Historic Dividend May 25th 2025

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. That's why it's comforting to see eBay's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 21% per annum for the past five years. eBay is paying out less than half its earnings and cash flow, while simultaneously growing earnings per share at a rapid clip. Companies with growing earnings and low payout ratios are often the best long-term dividend stocks, as the company can both grow its earnings and increase the percentage of earnings that it pays out, essentially multiplying the dividend.

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Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. eBay has delivered 13% dividend growth per year on average over the past six years. It's great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.

To Sum It Up

Should investors buy eBay for the upcoming dividend? We love that eBay is growing earnings per share while simultaneously paying out a low percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. These characteristics suggest the company is reinvesting in growing its business, while the conservative payout ratio also implies a reduced risk of the dividend being cut in the future. It's a promising combination that should mark this company worthy of closer attention.

So while eBay looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. For example - eBay has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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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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.

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