Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative (EPA:CCN) Has Announced That Its Dividend Will Be Reduced To €3.27

Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative (EPA:CCN) has announced it will be reducing its dividend payable on the 15th of May to €3.27, which is 12% lower than what investors received last year for the same period. This means that the annual payment is 3.8% of the current stock price, which is lower than what the rest of the industry is paying.

View our latest analysis for Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative

Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative's Dividend Forecasted To Be Well Covered By Earnings

The dividend yield is a little bit low, but sustainability of the payments is also an important part of evaluating an income stock.

Having distributed dividends for at least 10 years, Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative has a long history of paying out a part of its earnings to shareholders. Taking data from its last earnings report, calculating for the company's payout ratio shows 27%, which means that Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative would be able to pay its last dividend without pressure on the balance sheet.

EPS is set to fall by 1.0% over the next 12 months if recent trends continue. If the dividend continues along the path it has been on recently, we estimate the future payout ratio could be 23%, which is definitely feasible to continue.

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 an annual total of €5.33 in 2015 to the most recent total annual payment of €3.71. Doing the maths, this is a decline of about 3.6% per year. Generally, we don't like to see a dividend that has been declining over time as this can degrade shareholders' returns and indicate that the company may be running into problems.

The Dividend's Growth Prospects Are Limited

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share is growing, which could point to a growing dividend in the future. Unfortunately, Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative's earnings per share has been essentially flat over the past five years, which means the dividend may not be increased each year.

In Summary

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. While Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative is earning enough to cover the dividend, we are generally unimpressed with its future prospects. We don't think Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.

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. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Normandie-Seine Société coopérative that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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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.