Sumitomo's (TSE:8053) Dividend Will Be ¥65.00

The board of Sumitomo Corporation (TSE:8053) has announced that it will pay a dividend of ¥65.00 per share on the 24th of June. This will take the annual payment to 4.0% of the stock price, which is above what most companies in the industry pay.

See our latest analysis for Sumitomo

Sumitomo'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. Prior to this announcement, Sumitomo's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This indicates that quite a large proportion of earnings is being invested back into the business.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 11.6% over the next year. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 44% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The annual payment during the last 10 years was ¥47.00 in 2014, and the most recent fiscal year payment was ¥130.00. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 11% 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.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Earnings have grown at around 4.5% a year for the past five years, which isn't massive but still better than seeing them shrink. Growth of 4.5% may indicate that the company has limited investment opportunity so it is returning its earnings to shareholders instead. While this isn't necessarily a negative, it definitely signals that dividend growth could be constrained in the future unless earnings start to pick up again.

In Summary

Overall, it's great to see the dividend being raised and that it is still in a sustainable range. The payout ratio looks good, but unfortunately the company's dividend track record isn't stellar. Taking all of this into consideration, the dividend looks viable moving forward, but investors should be mindful that the company has pushed the boundaries of sustainability in the past and may do so again.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. To that end, Sumitomo has 3 warning signs (and 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable) we think you should know about. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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