PHX Energy Services' (TSE:PHX) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's

PHX Energy Services Corp. (TSE:PHX) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 15th of January to CA$0.20. This takes the dividend yield to 9.7%, which shareholders will be pleased with.

View our latest analysis for PHX Energy Services

PHX Energy Services' Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Based on the last payment, PHX Energy Services was earning enough to cover the dividend, but free cash flows weren't positive. With the company not bringing in any cash, paying out to shareholders is bound to become difficult at some point.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to fall by 6.2% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could be 34%, which we consider to be quite comfortable, with most of the company's earnings left over to grow the business in the future.

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 2013, the annual payment back then was CA$0.72, compared to the most recent full-year payment of CA$0.80. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 1.1% per annum over that time. We're glad to see the dividend has risen, but with a limited rate of growth and fluctuations in the payments the total shareholder return may be limited.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. It's encouraging to see that PHX Energy Services has been growing its earnings per share at 78% a year over the past five years. Earnings have been growing rapidly, and with a low payout ratio we think that the company could turn out to be a great dividend stock.

In Summary

Overall, we always like to see the dividend being raised, but we don't think PHX Energy Services will make a great income stock. With cash flows lacking, it is difficult to see how the company can sustain a dividend payment. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for PHX Energy Services (of which 2 are a bit concerning!) 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.