Yahoo Finance Collins Foods (ASX:CKF) Is Paying Out A Larger Dividend Than Last Year
Collins Foods Limited (ASX:CKF) will increase its dividend on the 22nd of December to AU$0.12. Based on the announced payment, the dividend yield for the company will be 1.9%, which is fairly typical for the industry.
View our latest analysis for Collins Foods
Collins Foods' Earnings Easily Cover the Distributions
We like to see a healthy dividend yield, but that is only helpful to us if the payment can continue. Prior to this announcement, Collins Foods' dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This indicates that quite a large proportion of earnings is being invested back into the business.
The next year is set to see EPS grow by 37.3%. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 53% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.
Collins Foods Is Still Building Its Track Record
It is great to see that Collins Foods has been paying a stable dividend for a number of years now, however we want to be a bit cautious about whether this will remain true through a full economic cycle. The dividend has gone from AU$0.065 in 2012 to the most recent annual payment of AU$0.24. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 16% over that duration. The dividend has been growing rapidly, however with such a short payment history we can't know for sure if payment can continue to grow over the long term, so caution may be warranted.
Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve
Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Earnings has been rising at 2.8% per annum over the last five years, which admittedly is a bit slow. Growth of 2.8% may indicate that the company has limited investment opportunity so it is returning its earnings to shareholders instead. While this isn't necessarily a negative, it definitely signals that dividend growth could be constrained in the future unless earnings start to pick up again.
Our Thoughts On Collins Foods' Dividend
Overall, it's great to see the dividend being raised and that it is still in a sustainable range. The payout ratio looks good, but unfortunately the company's dividend track record isn't stellar. The payment isn't stellar, but it could make a decent addition to a dividend portfolio.
Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Collins Foods that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high performing dividend stock.
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