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The board of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) has announced that the dividend on 16th of September will be increased to $1, which will be 2.0% higher than last year's payment of $0.985 which covered the same period. This makes the dividend yield about the same as the industry average at 3.7%.
Check out our latest analysis for Duke Energy
Duke Energy's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage
We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important. The last dividend made up quite a large portion of free cash flows, and this was made worse by the lack of free cash flows. Generally, we think that this would be a risky long term practice.
Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 31.9%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 65%, which would make us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend, despite the levels currently being quite high.
Duke Energy Has A Solid Track Record
The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. Since 2012, the dividend has gone from $3.00 total annually to $3.94. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 2.8% a year over that time. Although we can't deny that the dividend has been remarkably stable in the past, the growth has been pretty muted.
Duke Energy May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend
The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. Earnings per share has been crawling upwards at 4.0% per year. Earnings are not growing quickly at all, and the company is paying out most of its profit as dividends. That's fine as far as it goes, but we're less enthusiastic as this often signals that the dividend is likely to grow slower in the future.
The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable
Overall, we always like to see the dividend being raised, but we don't think Duke Energy will make a great income stock. Although they have been consistent in the past, we think the payments are a little high to be sustained. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.
It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. For example, we've identified 3 warning signs for Duke Energy (1 is potentially serious!) that you should be aware of before investing. Is Duke Energy not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.