Okuwa's (TSE:8217) Dividend Will Be ¥13.00

Okuwa Co., Ltd. (TSE:8217) will pay a dividend of ¥13.00 on the 18th of October. The dividend yield will be 3.0% based on this payment which is still above the industry average.

View our latest analysis for Okuwa

Okuwa Is Paying Out More Than It Is Earning

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Before making this announcement, Okuwa's dividend was higher than its profits, but the free cash flows quite comfortably covered it. Given that the dividend is a cash outflow, we think that cash is more important than accounting measures of profit when assessing the dividend, so this is a mitigating factor.

Earnings per share is forecast to rise by 15.0% over the next year. If the dividend continues on its recent course, the payout ratio in 12 months could be 96%, which is a bit high and could start applying pressure to the balance sheet.

Dividend Volatility

While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. There hasn't been much of a change in the dividend over the last 10 years. The dividend has seen some fluctuations in the past, so even though the dividend was raised this year, we should remember that it has been cut in the past.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Come By

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. It's not great to see that Okuwa's earnings per share has fallen at approximately 7.2% per year over the past 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. Earnings are predicted to grow over the next year, but we would remain cautious until a track record of earnings growth is established.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

Overall, we don't think this company makes a great dividend stock, even though the dividend wasn't cut this year. The company is generating plenty of cash, which could maintain the dividend for a while, but the track record hasn't been great. 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. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. For instance, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Okuwa that investors should take into consideration. 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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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.

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