Dechra Pharmaceuticals' (LON:DPH) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's

Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:DPH) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend on the 19th of November to UK£0.29. This takes the annual payment to 0.8% of the current stock price, which unfortunately is below what the industry is paying.

See our latest analysis for Dechra Pharmaceuticals

Dechra Pharmaceuticals' Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

It would be nice for the yield to be higher, but we should also check if higher levels of dividend payment would be sustainable. Prior to this announcement, Dechra Pharmaceuticals' dividend was making up a very large proportion of earnings, and the company was also not generating any cash flow to offset this. Generally, we think that this would be a risky long term practice.

EPS is set to grow by 8.6% over the next year. If the dividend continues growing along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could reach 83%, which is on the higher side, but certainly still feasible.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals Has A Solid Track Record

The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. Since 2011, the dividend has gone from UK£0.10 to UK£0.41. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 14% a year over that time. So, dividends have been growing pretty quickly, and even more impressively, they haven't experienced any notable falls during this period.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals Might Find It Hard To Grow Its Dividend

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. Dechra Pharmaceuticals has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 29% per annum. Earnings per share is growing nicely, but the company is paying out most of its earnings as dividends. This might be sustainable, but we wonder why Dechra Pharmaceuticals is not retaining those earnings to reinvest in growth.

In Summary

Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. We can't deny that the payments have been very stable, but we are a little bit worried about the very high payout ratio. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For example, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Dechra Pharmaceuticals that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of strong dividend payers.

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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.
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