Nickel Mines (ASX:NIC) Is Due To Pay A Dividend Of AU$0.02

Nickel Mines Limited (ASX:NIC) has announced that it will pay a dividend of AU$0.02 per share on the 10th of February. Including this payment, the dividend yield on the stock will be 2.8%, which is a modest boost for shareholders' 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. Investors will be pleased to see that Nickel Mines' stock price has increased by 37% in the last 3 months, which is good for shareholders and can also explain a decrease in the dividend yield.

View our latest analysis for Nickel Mines

Nickel Mines' Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

While yield is important, another factor to consider about a company's dividend is whether the current payout levels are feasible. Prior to this announcement, Nickel Mines' 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 59.7%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 42% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

Nickel Mines Doesn't Have A Long Payment History

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

Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Nickel Mines has impressed us by growing EPS at 56% per year over the past five years. The company's earnings per share has grown rapidly in recent years, and it has a good balance between reinvesting and paying dividends to shareholders, so we think that Nickel Mines could prove to be a strong dividend payer.

Nickel Mines Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. The company is easily earning enough to cover its dividend payments and it is great to see that these earnings are being translated into cash flow. 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. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For example, we've picked out 3 warning signs for Nickel Mines that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. 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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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.