Yahoo Finance NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Is Due To Pay A Dividend Of US$0.50
The board of NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) has announced that it will pay a dividend of US$0.50 per share on the 27th of July. This makes the dividend yield 3.2%, which will augment investor returns quite nicely.
Check out our latest analysis for NetApp
NetApp's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage
A big dividend yield for a few years doesn't mean much if it can't be sustained. Prior to this announcement, NetApp's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that a large portion of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.
EPS is set to fall by 0.06% over the next 12 months. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 56%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.
NetApp Is Still Building Its Track Record
The dividend's track record has been pretty solid, but with only 9 years of history we want to see a few more years of history before making any solid conclusions. Since 2013, the dividend has gone from US$0.60 to US$2.00. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 14% a year over that time. 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.
The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow
Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. It's encouraging to see NetApp has been growing its earnings per share at 19% a year over the past five years. Since earnings per share is growing at an acceptable rate, and the payout policy is balanced, we think the company is positioning itself well to grow earnings and dividends in the future.
NetApp Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock
Overall, we like to see the dividend staying consistent, and we think NetApp might even raise payments in the future. 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. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For instance, we've picked out 2 warning signs for NetApp that investors should take into consideration. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.
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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.
