América Móvil. de (BMV:AMXB) Has Announced A Dividend Of MX$0.24

The board of América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:AMXB) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 11th of November, with investors receiving MX$0.24 per share. This makes the dividend yield about the same as the industry average at 3.0%.

View our latest analysis for América Móvil. de

América Móvil. de's Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

While it is always good to see a solid dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is feasible. The last payment made up 92% of earnings, but cash flows were much higher. In general, cash flows are more important than earnings, so we are comfortable that the dividend will be sustainable going forward, especially with so much cash left over for reinvestment.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise exponentially over the next year. If recent patterns in the dividend continue, we could see the payout ratio reaching 28% which is fairly sustainable.

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 annual payment back then was MX$0.24, compared to the most recent full-year payment of MX$0.48. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 7.2% over that duration. A reasonable rate of dividend growth is good to see, but we're wary that the dividend history is not as solid as we'd like, having been cut at least once.

The Dividend Has Limited Growth Potential

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. América Móvil. de's earnings per share has shrunk at 12% a year over the past five years. This steep decline can indicate that the business is going through a tough time, which could constrain its ability to pay a larger dividend each year in the future. However, the next year is actually looking up, with earnings set to rise. We would just wait until it becomes a pattern before getting too excited.

In Summary

In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think América Móvil. de's payments are rock solid. The company is generating plenty of cash, which could maintain the dividend for a while, but the track record hasn't been great. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. For example, we've picked out 3 warning signs for América Móvil. de that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Is América Móvil. de not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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