Starts (TSE:8850) Has Announced A Dividend Of ¥55.00

Starts Corporation Inc.'s (TSE:8850) investors are due to receive a payment of ¥55.00 per share on 27th of June. This means the dividend yield will be fairly typical at 2.6%.

See our latest analysis for Starts

Starts' Projected Earnings Seem Likely To Cover Future Distributions

We like to see a healthy dividend yield, but that is only helpful to us if the payment can continue. However, Starts' earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 6.5%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 23%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Dividend Volatility

Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. Since 2014, the dividend has gone from ¥32.00 total annually to ¥100.00. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 12% 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. Starts has impressed us by growing EPS at 12% per year over the past five years. Growth in EPS bodes well for the dividend, as does the low payout ratio that the company is currently reporting.

We Really Like Starts' Dividend

In summary, it is good to see that the dividend is staying consistent, and we don't think there is any reason to suspect this might change over the medium term. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For example, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Starts that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.