Morito (TSE:9837) Has Announced A Dividend Of ¥29.00

Morito Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:9837) investors are due to receive a payment of ¥29.00 per share on 28th of February. This will take the dividend yield to an attractive 4.2%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Morito

Morito's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Before making this announcement, Morito was easily earning enough to cover the dividend. This means that most of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 6.1%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 70%, 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 2014, the dividend has gone from ¥9.00 total annually to ¥58.00. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 20% over that duration. It is great to see strong growth in the dividend payments, but cuts are concerning as it may indicate the payout policy is too ambitious.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share is growing, which could point to a growing dividend in the future. We are encouraged to see that Morito has grown earnings per share at 14% per year over the past five years. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Morito's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.

Morito Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, a dividend increase is always good, and we think that Morito is a strong income stock thanks to its track record and growing earnings. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

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. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 2 warning signs for Morito that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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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.