The board of Global Water Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:GWRS) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 30th of September, with investors receiving $0.0246 per share. This means the dividend yield will be fairly typical at 2.2%.

See our latest analysis for Global Water Resources

Global Water Resources Is Paying Out More Than It Is Earning

We like to see a healthy dividend yield, but that is only helpful to us if the payment can continue. Before this announcement, Global Water Resources was paying out 136% of what it was earning, and not generating any free cash flows either. This high of a dividend payment could start to put pressure on the balance sheet in the future.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to fall by 8.0% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could reach 115%, which could put the dividend in jeopardy if the company's earnings don't improve.

Global Water Resources Doesn't Have A Long Payment History

The dividend's track record has been pretty solid, but with only 6 years of history we want to see a few more years of history before making any solid conclusions. Since 2016, the annual payment back then was $0.28, compared to the most recent full-year payment of $0.295. Dividend payments have grown at less than 1% a year over this period. Modest dividend growth is good to see, especially with the payments being relatively stable. However, the payment history is relatively short and we wouldn't want to rely on this dividend too much.

Global Water Resources Might Find It Hard To Grow Its Dividend

Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. We are encouraged to see that Global Water Resources has grown earnings per share at 15% per year over the past five years. Although per-share earnings are growing at a credible rate, the massive payout ratio may limit growth in the company's future dividend payments.

Global Water Resources' Dividend Doesn't Look Sustainable

Overall, we don't think this company makes a great dividend stock, even though the dividend wasn't cut this year. Strong earnings growth means Global Water Resources has the potential to be a good dividend stock in the future, despite the current payments being at elevated levels. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Global Water Resources (of which 3 don't sit too well with us!) you should know about. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.