Equasens Société anonyme (EPA:EQS) Is Increasing Its Dividend To €1.15

Equasens Société anonyme (EPA:EQS) has announced that it will be increasing its periodic dividend on the 5th of July to €1.15, which will be 9.5% higher than last year's comparable payment amount of €1.05. This takes the dividend yield to 1.3%, which shareholders will be pleased with.

View our latest analysis for Equasens Société anonyme

Equasens Société anonyme's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Before making this announcement, Equasens Société anonyme was easily earning enough to cover the dividend. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 29.4%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 35% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

Equasens Société anonyme Has A Solid Track Record

The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. Since 2013, the dividend has gone from €0.42 total annually to €1.05. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 9.6% over that duration. The growth of the dividend has been pretty reliable, so we think this can offer investors some nice additional income in their portfolio.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. It's encouraging to see that Equasens Société anonyme has been growing its earnings per share at 15% a 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.

We Really Like Equasens Société anonyme's Dividend

Overall, we think this could be an attractive income stock, and it is only getting better by paying a higher dividend this year. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. Earnings growth generally bodes well for the future value of company dividend payments. See if the 4 Equasens Société anonyme analysts we track are forecasting continued growth with our free report on analyst estimates for the company. 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.