Sanritsu (TSE:9366) Will Pay A Smaller Dividend Than Last Year

Sanritsu Corporation's (TSE:9366) dividend is being reduced from last year's payment covering the same period to ¥29.00 on the 28th of June. However, the dividend yield of 3.7% is still a decent boost to shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for Sanritsu

Sanritsu's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. Prior to this announcement, Sanritsu's earnings easily covered the dividend, but free cash flows were negative. No cash flows could definitely make returning cash to shareholders difficult, or at least mean the balance sheet will come under pressure.

EPS is set to fall by 3.4% over the next 12 months if recent trends continue. If the dividend continues along the path it has been on recently, we estimate the payout ratio could be 35%, which is definitely feasible to continue.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2014, the dividend has gone from ¥24.50 total annually to ¥29.00. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 1.7% over that duration. It's encouraging to see some dividend growth, but the dividend has been cut at least once, and the size of the cut would eliminate most of the growth anyway, which makes this less attractive as an income investment.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Sanritsu has seen earnings per share falling at 3.4% per year over the last five years. If earnings continue declining, the company may have to make the difficult choice of reducing the dividend or even stopping it completely - the opposite of dividend growth.

Sanritsu's Dividend Doesn't Look Sustainable

Overall, the dividend looks like it may have been a bit high, which explains why it has now been cut. While Sanritsu is earning enough to cover the payments, the cash flows are lacking. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For example, we've picked out 3 warning signs for Sanritsu that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Is Sanritsu 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.