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The board of Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKT.A) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 18th of July, with investors receiving $0.165 per share. This payment means the dividend yield will be 1.0%, which is below the average for the industry.
Check out our latest analysis for Ingles Markets
Ingles Markets' Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings
The dividend yield is a little bit low, but sustainability of the payments is also an important part of evaluating an income stock. However, Ingles Markets' earnings easily cover the dividend. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.
Looking forward, earnings per share could rise by 18.6% over the next year if the trend from the last few years continues. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 6.0% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.
Ingles Markets Has A Solid Track Record
The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. The most recent annual payment of $0.66 is about the same as the annual payment 10 years ago. While the consistency in the dividend payments is impressive, we think the relatively slow rate of growth is less attractive.
The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow
Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. It's encouraging to see that Ingles Markets has been growing its earnings per share at 19% a year over the past five years. Ingles Markets definitely has the potential to grow its dividend in the future with earnings on an uptrend and a low payout ratio.
Ingles Markets Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock
Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.
It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For example, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Ingles Markets that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.