Admiral Group's (LON:ADM) Dividend Will Be £0.52

Admiral Group plc (LON:ADM) will pay a dividend of £0.52 on the 7th of June. The dividend yield is 3.8% based on this payment, which is a little bit low compared to the other companies in the industry.

View our latest analysis for Admiral Group

Admiral Group's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

While yield is important, another factor to consider about a company's dividend is whether the current payout levels are feasible. Based on the last dividend, Admiral Group is earning enough to cover the payment, but then it makes up 152% of cash flows. The company might be more focused on returning cash to shareholders, but paying out this much of its cash flow could expose the dividend to being cut in the future.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 67.5%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 59%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Dividend Volatility

The company's dividend history has been marked by instability, with at least one cut in the last 10 years. Since 2014, the annual payment back then was £0.703, compared to the most recent full-year payment of £1.03. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 3.9% per annum over that time. We're glad to see the dividend has risen, but with a limited rate of growth and fluctuations in the payments the total shareholder return may be limited.

Admiral Group May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

Given that the dividend has been cut in the past, we need to check if earnings are growing and if that might lead to stronger dividends in the future. It's not great to see that Admiral Group's earnings per share has fallen at approximately 3.9% per year over the past five years. A modest decline in earnings isn't great, and it makes it quite unlikely that the dividend will grow in the future unless that trend can be reversed. However, the next year is actually looking up, with earnings set to rise. We would just wait until it becomes a pattern before getting too excited.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about Admiral Group's payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. With cash flows lacking, it is difficult to see how the company can sustain a dividend payment. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.

It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For example, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Admiral Group that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.