Transurban Group (ASX:TCL) Will Pay A Dividend Of A$0.30

Transurban Group's (ASX:TCL) investors are due to receive a payment of A$0.30 per share on 13th of February. This will take the dividend yield to an attractive 4.6%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Transurban Group

Transurban Group Doesn't Earn Enough To Cover Its Payments

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. Based on the last payment, the company wasn't making enough to cover what it was paying to shareholders. It will be difficult to sustain this level of payout so we wouldn't be confident about this continuing.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to grow rapidly. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we could see the payout ratio reach 287%, which is on the unsustainable side.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The dividend has gone from an annual total of A$0.31 in 2013 to the most recent total annual payment of A$0.63. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 7.3% per annum over that time. We like to see dividends have grown at a reasonable rate, but with at least one substantial cut in the payments, we're not certain this dividend stock would be ideal for someone intending to live on the income.

The Dividend Has Limited Growth Potential

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Transurban Group's earnings per share has shrunk at 38% a year over the past five years. A sharp decline in earnings per share is not great from from a dividend perspective. Even conservative payout ratios can come under pressure if earnings fall far enough. However, the next year is actually looking up, with earnings set to rise. We would just wait until it becomes a pattern before getting too excited.

Transurban Group's Dividend Doesn't Look Great

In conclusion, we have some concerns about this dividend, even though it being raised is good. The company's earnings aren't high enough to be making such big distributions, and it isn't backed up by strong growth or consistency either. The dividend doesn't inspire confidence that it will provide solid income in the future.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Transurban Group (of which 2 are a bit unpleasant!) you should know about. 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.