Stabilus (ETR:STM) Is Reducing Its Dividend To €0.35

Stabilus SE (ETR:STM) has announced that on 9th of February, it will be paying a dividend of€0.35, which a reduction from last year's comparable dividend. This means that the dividend yield is 1.7%, which is a bit low when comparing to other companies in the industry.

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Stabilus' Projected Earnings Seem Likely To Cover Future Distributions

The dividend yield is a little bit low, but sustainability of the payments is also an important part of evaluating an income stock. However, prior to this announcement, Stabilus' dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that most of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 122.6%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 17%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Check out our latest analysis for Stabilus

Stabilus' Dividend Has Lacked Consistency

Stabilus has been paying dividends for a while, but the track record isn't stellar. This makes us cautious about the consistency of the dividend over a full economic cycle. Since 2016, the dividend has gone from €0.50 total annually to €0.35. The dividend has shrunk at around 3.9% a year during that period. Declining dividends isn't generally what we look for as they can indicate that the company is running into some challenges.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Come By

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Over the past five years, it looks as though Stabilus' EPS has declined at around 5.1% a year. A modest decline in earnings isn't great, and it makes it quite unlikely that the dividend will grow in the future unless that trend can be reversed. 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.

Our Thoughts On Stabilus' Dividend

Overall, it's not great to see that the dividend has been cut, but this might be explained by the payments being a bit high previously. The payments haven't been particularly stable and we don't see huge growth potential, but with the dividend well covered by cash flows it could prove to be reliable over the short term. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. To that end, Stabilus has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit concerning) we think 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.