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SSE plc (LON:SSE) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 22nd of September to £0.602. This will take the dividend yield to an attractive 4.9%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.
See our latest analysis for SSE
SSE's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage
Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained. Prior to this announcement, SSE's dividend was only 35% of earnings, however it was paying out 530% of free cash flows. The business might be trying to strike a balance between returning cash to shareholders and reinvesting back into the business, but this high of a payout ratio could definitely force the dividend to be cut if the company runs into a bit of a tough spot.
Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 46.7%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 66%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.
Dividend Volatility
While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. Since 2012, the dividend has gone from £0.80 total annually to £0.857. Dividend payments have grown at less than 1% a year over this period. Modest growth in the dividend is good to see, but we think this is offset by historical cuts to the payments. It is hard to live on a dividend income if the company's earnings are not consistent.
The Dividend Has Growth Potential
Given that the dividend has been cut in the past, we need to check if earnings are growing and if that might lead to stronger dividends in the future. It's encouraging to see that SSE has been growing its earnings per share at 8.7% a year over the past five years. SSE definitely has the potential to grow its dividend in the future with earnings on an uptrend and a low payout ratio.
Our Thoughts On SSE's Dividend
In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think SSE's payments are rock solid. While SSE is earning enough to cover the payments, the cash flows are lacking. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.
Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. To that end, SSE has 4 warning signs (and 2 which don't sit too well with us) we think you should know about. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.