Coloplast's (CPH:COLO B) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's

The board of Coloplast A/S (CPH:COLO B) has announced that it will be paying its dividend of DKK15.00 on the 6th of December, an increased payment from last year's comparable dividend. This makes the dividend yield 2.3%, which is above the industry average.

Check out the opportunities and risks within the DK Medical Equipment industry.

Coloplast's Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. Before making this announcement, Coloplast was paying out quite a large proportion of both earnings and cash flow, with the dividend being 107% of cash flows. Paying out such a high proportion of cash flows certainly exposes the company to cutting the dividend if cash flows were to reduce.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 43.6%. Under the assumption that the dividend will continue along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 72% which would be quite comfortable going to take the dividend forward.

Coloplast Has A Solid Track Record

Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. The dividend has gone from an annual total of DKK4.00 in 2012 to the most recent total annual payment of DKK20.00. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 17% per annum over that time. We can see that payments have shown some very nice upward momentum without faltering, which provides some reassurance that future payments will also be reliable.

The Dividend's Growth Prospects Are Limited

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. Earnings per share has been crawling upwards at 4.4% per year. There are exceptions, but limited earnings growth and a high payout ratio can signal that a company has reached maturity. This isn't the end of the world, but for investors looking for strong dividend growth they may want to look elsewhere.

Coloplast's Dividend Doesn't Look Sustainable

Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. Although they have been consistent in the past, we think the payments are a little high to be sustained. We would be a touch cautious of relying on this stock primarily for the dividend income.

It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. For example, we've identified 2 warning signs for Coloplast (1 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing. 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.