ValueCommerce's (TSE:2491) Dividend Will Be Reduced To ¥22.00

ValueCommerce Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:2491) dividend is being reduced from last year's payment covering the same period to ¥22.00 on the 2nd of September. The dividend yield of 4.0% is still a nice boost to shareholder returns, despite the cut.

View our latest analysis for ValueCommerce

ValueCommerce's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

A big dividend yield for a few years doesn't mean much if it can't be sustained. The last dividend was quite easily covered by ValueCommerce's earnings. This indicates that a lot of the earnings are being reinvested into the business, with the aim of fueling growth.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 26.3% over the next year. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 47% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2014, the annual payment back then was ¥6.50, compared to the most recent full-year payment of ¥42.00. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 21% per annum 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.

ValueCommerce May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. However, ValueCommerce has only grown its earnings per share at 2.6% per annum over the past five years. Growth of 2.6% per annum is not particularly high, which might explain why the company is paying out a higher proportion of earnings. This could mean the dividend doesn't have the growth potential we look for going into the future.

Our Thoughts On ValueCommerce's Dividend

Overall, we think that ValueCommerce could make a reasonable income stock, even though it did cut the dividend this year. The dividend has been at reasonable levels historically, but that hasn't translated into a consistent payment. The dividend looks okay, but there have been some issues in the past, so we would be a little bit cautious.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for ValueCommerce that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. 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.