Equasens Société anonyme's (EPA:EQS) Shareholders Will Receive A Bigger Dividend Than Last Year

The board of Equasens Société anonyme (EPA:EQS) has announced that the dividend on 5th of July will be increased to €1.15, which will be 9.5% higher than last year's payment of €1.05 which covered the same period. This takes the dividend yield to 1.5%, which shareholders will be pleased with.

See our latest analysis for Equasens Société anonyme

Equasens Société anonyme's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. However, prior to this announcement, Equasens Société anonyme's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that most of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 24.9%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 36%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

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 annual payment back then was €0.42, compared to the most recent full-year payment of €1.05. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 9.6% per annum over that time. 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 who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. Equasens Société anonyme has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 15% per annum. Equasens Société anonyme definitely has the potential to grow its dividend in the future with earnings on an uptrend and a low payout ratio.

Equasens Société anonyme Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

In summary, it is always positive to see the dividend being increased, and we are particularly pleased with its overall sustainability. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

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. Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 4 analysts we track are forecasting for Equasens Société anonyme for free with public analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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