Veidekke (OB:VEI) Will Pay A Larger Dividend Than Last Year At NOK7.90

Veidekke ASA's (OB:VEI) dividend will be increasing from last year's payment of the same period to NOK7.90 on 22nd of May. This will take the dividend yield to an attractive 7.0%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Veidekke

Veidekke's Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. Before making this announcement, Veidekke's dividend was higher than its profits, but the free cash flows quite comfortably covered it. Healthy cash flows are always a positive sign, especially when they quite easily cover the dividend.

EPS is set to grow by 15.5% over the next year. If recent patterns in the dividend continues, the payout ratio in 12 months could be 94% which is a bit high but can definitely be sustainable.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2014, the dividend has gone from NOK3.00 total annually to NOK7.90. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 10% over that duration. 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.

Dividend Growth Could Be Constrained

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. It's encouraging to see that Veidekke has been growing its earnings per share at 55% a year over the past five years. Strong earnings is nice to see, but unless this can be sustained on minimal reinvestment of profits, we would question whether dividends will follow suit.

In Summary

Overall, we always like to see the dividend being raised, but we don't think Veidekke will make a great income stock. The company is generating plenty of cash, which could maintain the dividend for a while, but the track record hasn't been great. We don't think Veidekke is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.

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. As an example, we've identified 1 warning sign for Veidekke that you should be aware of before investing. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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