In This Article:
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 8th of September to $0.18. Even though the dividend went up, the yield is still quite low at only 2.3%.
View our latest analysis for CenterPoint Energy
CenterPoint Energy's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage
Even a low dividend yield can be attractive if it is sustained for years on end. Before making this announcement, CenterPoint Energy was earning enough to cover the dividend, but it wasn't generating any free cash flows. Since a dividend means the company is paying out cash to investors, this could prove to be a problem in the future.
Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 16.4% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 41%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.
Dividend Volatility
The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2012, the annual payment back then was $0.79, compared to the most recent full-year payment of $0.68. This works out to be a decline of approximately 1.5% per year over that time. A company that decreases its dividend over time generally isn't what we are looking for.
The Dividend's Growth Prospects Are Limited
Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. However, CenterPoint Energy has only grown its earnings per share at 4.7% per annum over the past five years. Growth of 4.7% per annum is not particularly high, which might explain why the company is paying out a higher proportion of earnings. This isn't bad in itself, but unless earnings growth pick up we wouldn't expect dividends to grow either.
In Summary
Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. While the low payout ratio is redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. To that end, CenterPoint Energy has 5 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.