Nishimatsu Construction Co., Ltd. (TSE:1820) has announced that it will pay a dividend of ¥120.00 per share on the 29th of June. Based on this payment, the dividend yield on the company's stock will be 3.9%, which is an attractive boost to shareholder returns.
Nishimatsu Construction's Projected Earnings Seem Likely To Cover Future Distributions
We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. Prior to this announcement, Nishimatsu Construction's earnings easily covered the dividend, but free cash flows were negative. In general, we consider cash flow to be more important than earnings, so we would be cautious about relying on the sustainability of this dividend.
The next year is set to see EPS grow by 8.0%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 51% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.
Check out our latest analysis for Nishimatsu Construction
Dividend Volatility
Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. The annual payment during the last 10 years was ¥55.00 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was ¥220.00. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 15% over that duration. 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.
Nishimatsu Construction Could Grow Its Dividend
Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. We are encouraged to see that Nishimatsu Construction has grown earnings per share at 9.1% per year over the past five years. The company is paying out a lot of its cash as a dividend, but it looks okay based on the payout ratio.
Our Thoughts On Nishimatsu Construction's Dividend
Overall, we don't think this company makes a great dividend stock, even though the dividend wasn't cut this year. While the low payout ratio is a redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. We don't think Nishimatsu Construction is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.
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. To that end, Nishimatsu Construction has 3 warning signs (and 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) we think you should know about. 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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