Star Mica Holdings Co., Ltd. (TSE:2975) will increase its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 25th of February to ¥22.00. This takes the dividend yield to 3.1%, which shareholders will be pleased with.
Star Mica Holdings' Future Dividend Projections Appear Well Covered By Earnings
A big dividend yield for a few years doesn't mean much if it can't be sustained. Based on the last payment, Star Mica Holdings was earning enough to cover the dividend, but free cash flows weren't positive. We think that cash flows should take priority over earnings, so this is definitely a worry for the dividend going forward.
If the trend of the last few years continues, EPS will grow by 18.0% over the next 12 months. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 28%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.
Check out our latest analysis for Star Mica Holdings
Dividend Volatility
The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The dividend has gone from an annual total of ¥4.50 in 2015 to the most recent total annual payment of ¥36.00. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 23% per annum over that time. 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 see if earnings per share is growing. We are encouraged to see that Star Mica Holdings has grown earnings per share at 18% per year over the past five years. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Star Mica Holdings' prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.
Our Thoughts On Star Mica Holdings' Dividend
Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. While the low payout ratio is a redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.
Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Star Mica Holdings (of which 1 is concerning!) you should know about. 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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