Tadano's (TSE:6395) Shareholders Will Receive A Bigger Dividend Than Last Year

Tadano Ltd. (TSE:6395) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 5th of September to ¥18.00. This makes the dividend yield 3.9%, which is above the industry average.

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

Tadano's Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. Tadano is quite easily earning enough to cover the dividend, however it is being let down by weak cash flows. We think that cash flows should take priority over earnings, so this is definitely a worry for the dividend going forward.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 23.2% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 45%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

See our latest analysis for Tadano

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from ¥20.00 total annually to ¥36.00. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 6.1% over that duration. A reasonable rate of dividend growth is good to see, but we're wary that the dividend history is not as solid as we'd like, having been cut at least once.

The Dividend Has Limited Growth Potential

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Over the past five years, it looks as though Tadano's EPS has declined at around 13% a year. This steep decline can indicate that the business is going through a tough time, which could constrain its ability to pay a larger dividend each year in the future. It's not all bad news though, as the earnings are predicted to rise over the next 12 months - we would just be a bit cautious until this becomes a long term trend.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think Tadano's payments are rock solid. While Tadano is earning enough to cover the payments, the cash flows are lacking. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. 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 3 warning signs for Tadano that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.