Yahoo Finance Target (NYSE:TGT) Has Announced That It Will Be Increasing Its Dividend To US$1.08
Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend on the 10th of September to US$1.08, which will be 20% higher than last year. This will take the dividend yield from 2.4% to 2.5%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.
While the dividend yield is important for income investors, it is also important to consider any large share price moves, as this will generally outweigh any gains from distributions. Target's stock price has reduced by 31% in the last 3 months, which is not ideal for investors and can explain a sharp increase in the dividend yield.
Check out our latest analysis for Target
Target's Earnings Easily Cover the Distributions
Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained. However, prior to this announcement, Target was quite comfortably covering its dividend with earnings and it was paying more than 75% of its free cash flow to shareholders. The business is earning enough to make the dividend feasible, but the cash payout ratio of 78% shows that most of the cash is going back to the shareholders, which could constrain growth prospects going forward.
Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 22.6%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 41%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.
Target Has A Solid Track Record
Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. Since 2012, the first annual payment was US$1.20, compared to the most recent full-year payment of US$3.60. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 12% per annum over that time. Rapidly growing dividends for a long time is a very valuable feature for an income stock.
The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow
Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. We are encouraged to see that Target has grown earnings per share at 21% per year over the past five years. A low payout ratio gives the company a lot of flexibility, and growing earnings also make it very easy for it to grow the dividend.
Our Thoughts On Target's Dividend
Overall, it's great to see the dividend being raised and that it is still in a sustainable range. However, lack of cash flows makes us wary of the potential for cuts in the dividend's future, even though the dividend is generally looking okay. The payment isn't stellar, but it could make a decent addition to a dividend portfolio.
Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For instance, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Target that investors should take into consideration. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield 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.
