Waseda Academy (TSE:4718) Has Announced A Dividend Of ¥15.00

The board of Waseda Academy Co., Ltd. (TSE:4718) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 28th of November, with investors receiving ¥15.00 per share. This takes the annual payment to 2.9% of the current stock price, which is about average for the industry.

View our latest analysis for Waseda Academy

Waseda Academy's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

Unless the payments are sustainable, the dividend yield doesn't mean too much. Prior to this announcement, Waseda Academy'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.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 10.1%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 43%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Waseda Academy Has A Solid Track Record

The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. Since 2014, the dividend has gone from ¥15.00 total annually to ¥45.00. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 12% over that duration. We can see that payments have shown some very nice upward momentum without faltering, which provides some reassurance that future payments will also be reliable.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. Waseda Academy has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 11% per annum. The company is paying a reasonable amount of earnings to shareholders, and is growing earnings at a decent rate so we think it could be a decent dividend stock.

We Really Like Waseda Academy's Dividend

In summary, it is always positive to see the dividend being increased, and we are particularly pleased with its overall sustainability. The company is easily earning enough to cover its dividend payments and it is great to see that these earnings are being translated into cash flow. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. See if management have their own wealth at stake, by checking insider shareholdings in Waseda Academy stock. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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