Yahoo Finance Civitas Resources (NYSE:CIVI) Is Increasing Its Dividend To $1.76
Civitas Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CIVI) will increase its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 29th of September to $1.76. This takes the dividend yield to 9.0%, which shareholders will be pleased with.
See our latest analysis for Civitas Resources
Civitas Resources' Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings
Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained. However, prior to this announcement, Civitas Resources was quite comfortably covering its dividend with earnings and it was paying more than 75% of its free cash flow to shareholders. However, with more than 75% of free cash flow being paid out to shareholders, future growth could potentially be constrained.
The next year is set to see EPS grow by 2.1%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 52% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.
Civitas Resources Is Still Building Its Track Record
The company hasn't been paying a dividend for very long at all, so we can't really make a judgement on how stable the dividend has been. This doesn't mean that the company can't pay a good dividend, but just that we want to wait until it can prove itself.
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. It's encouraging to see that Civitas Resources has been growing its earnings per share at 26% a year over the past five years. Earnings have been growing rapidly, and with a low payout ratio we think that the company could turn out to be a great dividend stock.
We should note that Civitas Resources has issued stock equal to 169% of shares outstanding. Trying to grow the dividend when issuing new shares reminds us of the ancient Greek tale of Sisyphus - perpetually pushing a boulder uphill. Companies that consistently issue new shares are often suboptimal from a dividend perspective.
In Summary
Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. While Civitas Resources is earning enough to cover the dividend, we are generally unimpressed with its future prospects. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular 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 identified 2 warning signs for Civitas Resources (1 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing. Is Civitas Resources not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top 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.
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