SalMar's (OB:SALM) Dividend Will Be kr20.00

The board of SalMar ASA (OB:SALM) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 1st of January, with investors receiving kr20.00 per share. This means the dividend yield will be fairly typical at 3.2%.

Check out our latest analysis for SalMar

SalMar's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

Unless the payments are sustainable, the dividend yield doesn't mean too much. The last dividend made up a very large portion of earnings and also represented 81% of free cash flows. This is usually an indication that the focus of the company is returning cash to shareholders rather than reinvesting it for growth.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 37.4%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 72%, which would make us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend, despite the levels currently being quite high.

Dividend Volatility

The company's dividend history has been marked by instability, with at least 1 cut in the last 10 years. The first annual payment during the last 10 years was kr4.00 in 2012, and the most recent fiscal year payment was kr20.00. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 17% per annum over that time. Despite the rapid growth in the dividend over the past number of years, we have seen the payments go down the past as well, so that makes us cautious.

The Dividend's Growth Prospects Are Limited

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Unfortunately, SalMar's earnings per share has been essentially flat over the past five years, which means the dividend may not be increased each year.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

Overall, we don't think this company makes a great dividend stock, even though the dividend wasn't cut this year. The track record isn't great, and the payments are a bit high to be considered sustainable. We would be a touch cautious of relying on this stock primarily for the dividend income.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 2 warning signs for SalMar that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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