Investors In Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA (EPA:DPAM) Should Consider This, First

Dividend paying stocks like Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA (EPA:DPAM) tend to be popular with investors, and for good reason - some research suggests a significant amount of all stock market returns come from reinvested dividends. Yet sometimes, investors buy a stock for its dividend and lose money because the share price falls by more than they earned in dividend payments.

With a goodly-sized dividend yield despite a relatively short payment history, investors might be wondering if Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA is a new dividend aristocrat in the making. It sure looks interesting on these metrics - but there's always more to the story. There are a few simple ways to reduce the risks of buying Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA for its dividend, and we'll go through these below.

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Payout ratios

Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA paid out 90% of its profit as dividends, over the trailing twelve month period. Its payout ratio is quite high, and the dividend is not well covered by earnings. If earnings are growing or the company has a large cash balance, this might be sustainable - still, we think it is a concern.

In addition to comparing dividends against profits, we should inspect whether the company generated enough cash to pay its dividend. With a cash payout ratio of 91%, Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA's dividend payments are poorly covered by cash flow. As Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA's dividend was not well covered by either earnings or cash flow, we would be concerned that this dividend could be at risk over the long term.

With a strong net cash balance, Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA investors may not have much to worry about in the near term from a dividend perspective.

We update our data on Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA every 24 hours, so you can always get our latest analysis of its financial health, here.

Dividend Volatility

From the perspective of an income investor who wants to earn dividends for many years, there is not much point buying a stock if its dividend is regularly cut or is not reliable. The first recorded dividend for Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA, in the last decade, was eight years ago. The dividend has been quite stable over the past eight years, which is great to see - although we usually like to see the dividend maintained for a decade before giving it full marks, though. During the past eight-year period, the first annual payment was €5.0 in 2013, compared to €30.0 last year. Dividends per share have grown at approximately 25% per year over this time.

The dividend has been growing pretty quickly, which could be enough to get us interested even though the dividend history is relatively short. Further research may be warranted.

Dividend Growth Potential

Dividend payments have been consistent over the past few years, but we should always check if earnings per share (EPS) are growing, as this will help maintain the purchasing power of the dividend. While there may be fluctuations in the past , Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA's earnings per share have basically not grown from where they were five years ago. Over the long term, steady earnings per share is a risk as the value of the dividends can be reduced by inflation.

Conclusion

When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA paid out almost all of its cash flow and profit as dividends, leaving little to reinvest in the business. Earnings per share are down, and to our mind Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA has not been paying a dividend long enough to demonstrate its resilience across economic cycles. In this analysis, Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA doesn't shape up too well as a dividend stock. We'd find it hard to look past the flaws, and would not be inclined to think of it as a reliable dividend-payer.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For example, we've identified 3 warning signs for Les Docks des Pétroles d'Ambès -SA (1 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing.

We have also put together a list of global stocks with a market capitalisation above $1bn and yielding more 3%.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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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