In This Article:
Empire Company Limited's (TSE:EMP.A) dividend will be increasing from last year's payment of the same period to CA$0.20 on 31st of July. This makes the dividend yield 2.3%, which is above the industry average.
Check out our latest analysis for Empire
Empire's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings
A big dividend yield for a few years doesn't mean much if it can't be sustained. Before making this announcement, Empire was easily earning enough to cover the dividend. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.
If the trend of the last few years continues, EPS will grow by 16.1% over the next 12 months. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 23%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.
Empire Has A Solid Track Record
The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. The dividend has gone from an annual total of CA$0.347 in 2014 to the most recent total annual payment of CA$0.80. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 8.7% per annum over that time. The growth of the dividend has been pretty reliable, so we think this can offer investors some nice additional income in their portfolio.
The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow
Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Empire has impressed us by growing EPS at 16% per year over the past five years. Growth in EPS bodes well for the dividend, as does the low payout ratio that the company is currently reporting.
Empire Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock
In summary, it is always positive to see the dividend being increased, and we are particularly pleased with its overall sustainability. The company is easily earning enough to cover its dividend payments and it is great to see that these earnings are being translated into cash flow. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Earnings growth generally bodes well for the future value of company dividend payments. See if the 5 Empire analysts we track are forecasting continued growth with our free report on analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.