Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Nord de France Société coopérative (EPA:CNDF) Is Increasing Its Dividend To €0.70

Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Nord de France Société coopérative (EPA:CNDF) has announced that it will be increasing its periodic dividend on the 5th of May to €0.70, which will be 7.7% higher than last year's comparable payment amount of €0.65. Despite this raise, the dividend yield of 3.8% is only a modest boost to shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Nord de France Société coopérative

Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Nord de France Société coopérative's Earnings Will Easily Cover The Distributions

If it is predictable over a long period, even low dividend yields can be attractive.

Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Nord de France Société coopérative has a long history of paying out dividends, with its current track record at a minimum of 10 years. While past records don't necessarily translate into future results, the company's payout ratio of 16% also shows that Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Nord de France Société coopérative is able to comfortably pay dividends.

Over the next year, EPS could expand by 5.6% if recent trends continue. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the future payout ratio could be 22% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

Dividend Volatility

Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from €0.60 total annually to €0.65. Its dividends have grown at less than 1% per annum over this time frame. It's encouraging to see some dividend growth, but the dividend has been cut at least once, and the size of the cut would eliminate most of the growth anyway, which makes this less attractive as an income investment.

The Dividend Has Growth Potential

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. Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Nord de France Société coopérative has impressed us by growing EPS at 5.6% per year over the past five years. A low payout ratio and decent growth suggests that the company is reinvesting well, and it also has plenty of room to increase the dividend over time.

Our Thoughts On Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Nord de France Société coopérative's Dividend

In summary, it's great to see that the company can raise the dividend and keep it in a sustainable range. The dividend has been at reasonable levels historically, but that hasn't translated into a consistent payment. Taking all of this into consideration, the dividend looks viable moving forward, but investors should be mindful that the company has pushed the boundaries of sustainability in the past and may do so again.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. As an example, we've identified 1 warning sign for Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel Nord de France Société coopérative 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.