Diploma's (LON:DPLM) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's

The board of Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM) has announced that it will be paying its dividend of £0.42 on the 31st of January, an increased payment from last year's comparable dividend. Despite this raise, the dividend yield of 1.4% is only a modest boost to shareholder returns.

See our latest analysis for Diploma

Diploma's Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

It would be nice for the yield to be higher, but we should also check if higher levels of dividend payment would be sustainable. The last dividend was quite easily covered by Diploma's earnings. This means that a large portion of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 54.3%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 45%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Dividend Volatility

Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from £0.17 total annually to £0.593. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 13% over that duration. It is great to see strong growth in the dividend payments, but cuts are concerning as it may indicate the payout policy is too ambitious.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. It's encouraging to see that Diploma has been growing its earnings per share at 12% a year over the past five years. 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.

Diploma 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. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Diploma that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. 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.