Extendicare Inc. (TSE:EXE) has announced that it will pay a dividend of CA$0.042 per share on the 15th of July. This payment means the dividend yield will be 3.5%, which is below the average for the industry.
Extendicare's Projected Earnings Seem Likely To Cover Future Distributions
Even a low dividend yield can be attractive if it is sustained for years on end. Prior to this announcement, Extendicare's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This indicates that a lot of the earnings are being reinvested into the business, with the aim of fueling growth.
If the trend of the last few years continues, EPS will grow by 40.6% over the next 12 months. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 38% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.
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Extendicare Has A Solid Track Record
The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. The annual payment during the last 10 years was CA$0.48 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was CA$0.488. Dividend payments have grown at less than 1% a year over this period. Slow and steady dividend growth might not sound that exciting, but dividends have been stable for ten years, which we think makes this a fairly attractive offer.
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. Extendicare has impressed us by growing EPS at 41% per year over the past five years. Extendicare is clearly able to grow rapidly while still returning cash to shareholders, positioning it to become a strong dividend payer in the future.
We Really Like Extendicare's Dividend
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. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.
It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For example, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Extendicare that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.
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