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The board of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) has announced that it will be paying its dividend of $1.12 on the 15th of November, an increased payment from last year's comparable dividend. This takes the annual payment to 1.7% of the current stock price, which is about average for the industry.
See our latest analysis for Accenture
Accenture's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage
We like to see a healthy dividend yield, but that is only helpful to us if the payment can continue. However, Accenture's earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.
Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 30.5%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 31%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.
Accenture Has A Solid Track Record
Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. The dividend has gone from an annual total of $1.35 in 2012 to the most recent total annual payment of $4.48. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 13% a year over that time. We can see that payments have shown some very nice upward momentum without faltering, which provides some reassurance that future payments will also be reliable.
The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow
Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. We are encouraged to see that Accenture has grown earnings per share at 14% per year over the past five years. Accenture definitely has the potential to grow its dividend in the future with earnings on an uptrend and a low payout ratio.
We Really Like Accenture's Dividend
In summary, it is always positive to see the dividend being increased, and we are particularly pleased with its overall sustainability. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.
Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 22 analysts we track are forecasting for Accenture for free with public analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.