ABC arbitrage (EPA:ABCA) Will Pay A Dividend Of €0.10

ABC arbitrage SA's (EPA:ABCA) investors are due to receive a payment of €0.10 per share on 22nd of April. The dividend yield will be 6.6% based on this payment which is still above the industry average.

Check out our latest analysis for ABC arbitrage

ABC arbitrage 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. Prior to this announcement, the company was paying out 107% of what it was earning, however the dividend was quite comfortably covered by free cash flows at a cash payout ratio of only 50%. Generally, we think cash is more important than accounting measures of profit, so with the cash flows easily covering the dividend, we don't think there is much reason to worry.

EPS is set to fall by 3.5% over the next 12 months if recent trends continue. If the dividend continues along the path it has been on recently, the payout ratio in 12 months could be 104%, which is definitely a bit high to be sustainable going forward.

Dividend Volatility

While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. Since 2012, the first annual payment was €0.55, compared to the most recent full-year payment of €0.40. This works out to be a decline of approximately 3.1% per year over that time. 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. ABC arbitrage has seen earnings per share falling at 3.5% per year over the last five years. 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.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about ABC arbitrage's payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. The company is generating plenty of cash, which could maintain the dividend for a while, but the track record hasn't been great. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For example, we've picked out 2 warning signs for ABC arbitrage that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. 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.