China Water Affairs Group (HKG:855) Has Announced That It Will Be Increasing Its Dividend To HK$0.18

China Water Affairs Group Limited (HKG:855) will increase its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 18th of November to HK$0.18. Despite this raise, the dividend yield of 5.1% is only a modest boost to shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for China Water Affairs Group

China Water Affairs 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. However, China Water Affairs Group's earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 47.3%. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 24% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2012, the dividend has gone from HK$0.05 total annually to HK$0.36. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 22% a year over that time. Despite the rapid growth in the dividend over the past number of years, we have seen the payments go down the past as well, so that makes us cautious.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share is growing, which could point to a growing dividend in the future. We are encouraged to see that China Water Affairs Group has grown earnings per share at 15% per year over the past five years. A low payout ratio and decent growth suggests that the company is reinvesting well, and it also has plenty of room to increase the dividend over time.

China Water Affairs Group 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. 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. For example, we've identified 2 warning signs for China Water Affairs Group (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you should be aware of before investing. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection 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.