Bloomsbury Publishing's (LON:BMY) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc's (LON:BMY) dividend will be increasing from last year's payment of the same period to £0.1034 on 25th of August. This takes the annual payment to 2.7% of the current stock price, which unfortunately is below what the industry is paying.

Check out our latest analysis for Bloomsbury Publishing

Bloomsbury Publishing's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

While yield is important, another factor to consider about a company's dividend is whether the current payout levels are feasible. The last dividend was quite easily covered by Bloomsbury Publishing's earnings. This indicates that a lot of the earnings are being reinvested into the business, with the aim of fueling growth.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 4.3%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 48%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2013, the dividend has gone from £0.0533 total annually to £0.118. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 8.2% over that duration. It's good to see the dividend growing at a decent rate, but the dividend has been cut at least once in the past. Bloomsbury Publishing might have put its house in order since then, but we remain cautious.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

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 encouraging to see that Bloomsbury Publishing has been growing its earnings per share at 16% 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.

Bloomsbury Publishing Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, we think this could be an attractive income stock, and it is only getting better by paying a higher dividend this year. The company is easily earning enough to cover its dividend payments and it is great to see that these earnings are being translated into cash flow. 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. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Bloomsbury Publishing 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.