Dabur India's (NSE:DABUR) Dividend Will Be Increased To ₹2.75

Dabur India Limited (NSE:DABUR) will increase its dividend on the 2nd of December to ₹2.75, which is 10% higher than last year's payment from the same period of ₹2.50. This takes the annual payment to 1.0% of the current stock price, which unfortunately is below what the industry is paying.

Check out our latest analysis for Dabur India

Dabur India's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

The dividend yield is a little bit low, but sustainability of the payments is also an important part of evaluating an income stock. Prior to this announcement, Dabur India's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This indicates that a lot of the earnings are being reinvested into the business, with the aim of fueling growth.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 53.0%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 41%, 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 ₹1.50 total annually to ₹5.20. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 13% per annum 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.

Dabur India May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. However, Dabur India has only grown its earnings per share at 4.0% per annum over the past five years. Growth of 4.0% per annum is not particularly high, which might explain why the company is paying out a higher proportion of earnings. This isn't bad in itself, but unless earnings growth pick up we wouldn't expect dividends to grow either.

In Summary

Overall, this is a reasonable dividend, and it being raised is an added bonus. The payout ratio looks good, but unfortunately the company's dividend track record isn't stellar. The payment isn't stellar, but it could make a decent addition to a dividend portfolio.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. As an example, we've identified 1 warning sign for Dabur India that you should be aware of before investing. Is Dabur India not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top 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.