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The board of PPHE Hotel Group Limited (LON:PPH) has announced that it will be paying its dividend of £0.21 on the 30th of May, an increased payment from last year's comparable dividend. This takes the dividend yield to 3.1%, which shareholders will be pleased with.
Check out our latest analysis for PPHE Hotel Group
PPHE Hotel Group's Future Dividend Projections Appear 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, PPHE Hotel Group was earning enough to cover the dividend, but it wasn't generating any free cash flows. In general, we consider cash flow to be more important than earnings, so we would be cautious about relying on the sustainability of this dividend.
The next year is set to see EPS grow by 72.2%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 33%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.
Dividend Volatility
The company's dividend history has been marked by instability, with at least one cut in the last 10 years. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from £0.16 total annually to £0.40. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 9.6% over that duration. We like to see dividends have grown at a reasonable rate, but with at least one substantial cut in the payments, we're not certain this dividend stock would be ideal for someone intending to live on the income.
Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve
With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share is growing, which could point to a growing dividend in the future. It's not great to see that PPHE Hotel Group's earnings per share has fallen at approximately 3.3% per year over the past five years. A modest decline in earnings isn't great, and it makes it quite unlikely that the dividend will grow in the future unless that trend can be reversed. Earnings are predicted to grow over the next year, but we would remain cautious until a track record of earnings growth is established.
PPHE Hotel Group's Dividend Doesn't Look Sustainable
Overall, we always like to see the dividend being raised, but we don't think PPHE Hotel Group will make a great income stock. While the low payout ratio is a redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For example, we've identified 2 warning signs for PPHE Hotel Group (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.