The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) will pay a dividend of $0.235 on the 30th of September. This makes the dividend yield 5.6%, which will augment investor returns quite nicely.

View our latest analysis for Western Union

Western Union's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Based on the last payment, Western Union was quite comfortably earning enough to cover the dividend. This indicates that a lot of the earnings are being reinvested into the business, with the aim of fueling growth.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 9.4%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 47%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.

Western Union 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. Since 2012, the dividend has gone from $0.32 total annually to $0.94. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 11% per annum over that time. We can see that payments have shown some very nice upward momentum without faltering, which provides some reassurance that future payments will also be reliable.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. Western Union has impressed us by growing EPS at 38% per year over the past five years. The company's earnings per share has grown rapidly in recent years, and it has a good balance between reinvesting and paying dividends to shareholders, so we think that Western Union could prove to be a strong dividend payer.

Western Union Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

In summary, it is good to see that the dividend is staying consistent, and we don't think there is any reason to suspect this might change over the medium term. The earnings easily cover the company's distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. However, it is worth noting that the earnings are expected to fall over the next year, which may not change the long term outlook, but could affect the dividend payment in the next 12 months. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.

It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Just as an example, we've come across 2 warning signs for Western Union you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit concerning. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.