Gruma. de (BMV:GRUMAB) Will Pay A Dividend Of $1.35

Gruma, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:GRUMAB) will pay a dividend of $1.35 on the 12th of April. This payment means that the dividend yield will be 1.6%, which is around the industry average.

View our latest analysis for Gruma. de

Gruma. de Doesn't Earn Enough To Cover Its Payments

We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important. However, prior to this announcement, Gruma. de's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 13.2%. If the dividend continues on its recent course, the company could be paying out several times what it earns in the next 12 months, which could start applying pressure to the balance sheet.

Gruma. de Doesn't Have A Long Payment History

It is great to see that Gruma. de has been paying a stable dividend for a number of years now, however we want to be a bit cautious about whether this will remain true through a full economic cycle. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from $0.116 total annually to $0.295. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 11% over that duration. The dividend has been growing rapidly, however with such a short payment history we can't know for sure if payment can continue to grow over the long term, so caution may be warranted.

We Could See Gruma. de's Dividend Growing

Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. It's encouraging to see that Gruma. de has been growing its earnings per share at 8.7% a year over the past five years. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Gruma. de's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.

We Really Like Gruma. de's 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. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Gruma. de 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.