DCC (LON:DCC) Has Announced A Dividend Of £0.6619

The board of DCC plc (LON:DCC) has announced that it will pay a dividend of £0.6619 per share on the 13th of December. Based on this payment, the dividend yield for the company will be 3.6%, which is fairly typical for the industry.

View our latest analysis for DCC

DCC's Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important. Based on the last payment, DCC was quite comfortably earning enough to cover the dividend. This indicates that quite a large proportion of earnings is being invested back into the business.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 39.2% over the next year. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 47% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

DCC Has A Solid Track Record

The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. Since 2014, the annual payment back then was £0.769, compared to the most recent full-year payment of £1.97. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 9.8% per annum over that time. Companies like this can be very valuable over the long term, if the decent rate of growth can be maintained.

The Dividend Has Growth Potential

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. DCC has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 7.1% per annum. The company is paying a reasonable amount of earnings to shareholders, and is growing earnings at a decent rate so we think it could be a decent dividend stock.

DCC Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, a dividend increase is always good, and we think that DCC is a strong income stock thanks to its track record and growing earnings. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Earnings growth generally bodes well for the future value of company dividend payments. See if the 13 DCC 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.