Stock Analysis

Should You Buy ITE Group plc (LON:ITE) For Its Dividend?

LSE:HYVE
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Dividends play an important role in compounding returns in the long run and end up forming a sizeable part of investment returns. Historically, ITE Group plc (LON:ITE) has paid a dividend to shareholders. It currently yields 3.7%. Does ITE Group tick all the boxes of a great dividend stock? Below, I'll take you through my analysis.

View our latest analysis for ITE Group

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How I analyze a dividend stock

When assessing a stock as a potential addition to my dividend Portfolio, I look at these five areas:

  • Is its annual yield among the top 25% of dividend-paying companies?
  • Has its dividend been stable over the past (i.e. no missed payments or significant payout cuts)?
  • Has it increased its dividend per share amount over the past?
  • Does earnings amply cover its dividend payments?
  • Will it have the ability to keep paying its dividends going forward?
LSE:ITE Historical Dividend Yield, February 21st 2019
LSE:ITE Historical Dividend Yield, February 21st 2019

Does ITE Group pass our checks?

ITE Group has a negative payout ratio, which is usually not ideal.

When considering the sustainability of dividends, it is also worth checking the cash flow of a company. Companies with strong cash flow can sustain a higher payout ratio, while companies with weaker cash flow generally cannot.

If dividend is a key criteria in your investment consideration, then you need to make sure the dividend stock you're eyeing out is reliable in its payments. Dividend payments from ITE Group have been volatile in the past 10 years, with some years experiencing significant drops of over 25%. These characteristics do not bode well for income investors seeking reliable stream of dividends.

In terms of its peers, ITE Group has a yield of 3.7%, which is high for Media stocks but still below the market's top dividend payers.

Next Steps:

After digging a little deeper into ITE Group's yield, it's easy to see why you should be cautious investing in the company just for the dividend. But if you are not exclusively a dividend investor, the stock could still be an interesting investment opportunity. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I recommend taking sufficient time to understand its core business and determine whether the company and its investment properties suit your overall goals. I've put together three fundamental aspects you should look at:

  1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for ITE’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for ITE’s outlook.
  2. Valuation: What is ITE worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it's not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether ITE is currently mispriced by the market.
  3. Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.