Weds Co., Ltd. (TSE:7551) will pay a dividend of ¥10.00 on the 12th of December. This means the annual payment is 4.4% of the current stock price, which is above the average for the industry.
Weds' Future Dividend Projections Appear Well Covered By Earnings
If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. However, Weds' earnings easily cover the dividend. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.
Looking forward, earnings per share could rise by 11.1% over the next year if the trend from the last few years continues. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 27%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.
See our latest analysis for Weds
Dividend Volatility
The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The annual payment during the last 10 years was ¥30.00 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was ¥27.00. The dividend has shrunk at around 1.0% a year during that period. A company that decreases its dividend over time generally isn't what we are looking for.
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 Weds has grown earnings per share at 11% per year over the past five years. Weds definitely has the potential to grow its dividend in the future with earnings on an uptrend and a low payout ratio.
We Really Like Weds' 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. 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.
Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. As an example, we've identified 2 warning signs for Weds that you should be aware of before investing. 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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