The board of Zotefoams plc (LON:ZTF) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend by 3.8% on the 7th of October to £0.0218, up from last year’s comparable payment of £0.021. Although the dividend is now higher, the yield is only 2.0%, which is below the industry average.
View our latest analysis for Zotefoams
Zotefoams’ Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage
The dividend yield is a little bit low, but sustainability of the payments is also an important part of evaluating an income stock. The last dividend was quite comfortably covered by Zotefoams’ earnings, but it was a bit tighter on the cash flow front. The business is earning enough to make the dividend feasible, but the cash payout ratio of 84% indicates it is more focused on returning cash to shareholders than growing the business.
Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 120.1% over the next year. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 25% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.
Dividend Volatility
While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. Since 2012, the dividend has gone from £0.049 total annually to £0.065. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 2.9% per annum over that time. Modest growth in the dividend is good to see, but we think this is offset by historical cuts to the payments. It is hard to live on a dividend income if the company’s earnings are not consistent.
Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve
Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. It’s not great to see that Zotefoams’ earnings per share has fallen at approximately 2.1% per year over the past five years. If earnings continue declining, the company may have to make the difficult choice of reducing the dividend or even stopping it completely – the opposite of dividend growth. It’s not all bad news though, as the earnings are predicted to rise over the next 12 months – we would just be a bit cautious until this can turn into a longer term trend.
Our Thoughts On Zotefoams’ Dividend
In summary, while it’s always good to see the dividend being raised, we don’t think Zotefoams’ payments are rock solid. The company hasn’t been paying a very consistent dividend over time, despite only paying out a small portion of earnings. Overall, we don’t think this company has the makings of a good income stock.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Taking the debate a bit further, we’ve identified 2 warning signs for Zotefoams that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. Is Zotefoams 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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