Black Diamond Group (TSE:BDI) Has Affirmed Its Dividend Of CA$0.03

The board of Black Diamond Group Limited (TSE:BDI) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 15th of July, with investors receiving CA$0.03 per share. This means the annual payment is 1.6% of the current stock price, which is above the average for the industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Black Diamond Group

Black Diamond Group's Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. However, prior to this announcement, Black Diamond Group's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.

EPS is set to fall by 2.7% over the next 12 months. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 20%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.

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. The annual payment during the last 10 years was CA$0.84 in 2014, and the most recent fiscal year payment was CA$0.12. Dividend payments have fallen sharply, down 86% over that time. Generally, we don't like to see a dividend that has been declining over time as this can degrade shareholders' returns and indicate that the company may be running into problems.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Given that dividend payments have been shrinking like a glacier in a warming world, we need to check if there are some bright spots on the horizon. Black Diamond Group has impressed us by growing EPS at 65% 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.

We Really Like Black Diamond Group's Dividend

In summary, it is good to see that the dividend is staying consistent, and we don't think there is any reason to suspect this might change over the medium term. The company is generating plenty of cash, and the earnings also quite easily cover the distributions. 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 in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For instance, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Black Diamond Group that investors should take into consideration. Is Black Diamond Group not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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