Endesa (BME:ELE) Has Announced That Its Dividend Will Be Reduced To €0.41

Endesa, S.A. (BME:ELE) is reducing its dividend to €0.41 on the 3rd of January. The yield is still above the industry average at 7.3%.

See our latest analysis for Endesa

Endesa Is Paying Out More Than It Is Earning

Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained. Before making this announcement, the company's dividend was much higher than its earnings. It will be difficult to sustain this level of payout so we wouldn't be confident about this continuing.

Earnings per share is forecast to rise by 25.6% over the next year. However, if the dividend continues growing along recent trends, it could start putting pressure on the balance sheet with the payout ratio reaching 102% over the next year.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The dividend has gone from €1.02 in 2011 to the most recent annual payment of €1.81. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.0% a year over that time. We have seen cuts in the past, so while the growth looks promising we would be a little bit cautious about its track record.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Earnings per share has been crawling upwards at 2.6% per year. So the company has struggled to grow its EPS yet it's still paying out 143% of its earnings. This gives limited room for the company to raise the dividend in the future.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

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 track record isn't great, and the payments are a bit high to be considered sustainable. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.

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. Just as an example, we've come across 3 warning signs for Endesa you should be aware of, and 1 of them can't be ignored. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of strong dividend payers.

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.

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