OMV Petrom (BVB:SNP) Is Increasing Its Dividend To RON0.0375

OMV Petrom S.A. (BVB:SNP) will increase its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 7th of June to RON0.0375. The payment will take the dividend yield to 8.0%, which is in line with the average for the industry.

See our latest analysis for OMV Petrom

OMV Petrom Doesn't Earn Enough To Cover Its Payments

Unless the payments are sustainable, the dividend yield doesn't mean too much. However, OMV Petrom's earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.

EPS is set to fall by 76.5% over the next 12 months. If the dividend continues along the path it has been on recently, the company could be paying out more than double what it is earning, which is definitely a bit high to be sustainable going forward.

Dividend Volatility

Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. Since 2013, the annual payment back then was RON0.031, compared to the most recent full-year payment of RON0.0375. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 1.9% a year over that time. The dividend has seen some fluctuations in the past, so even though the dividend was raised this year, we should remember that it has been cut in the past.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. OMV Petrom has impressed us by growing EPS at 29% per year over the past five years. Rapid earnings growth and a low payout ratio suggest this company has been effectively reinvesting in its business. Should that continue, this company could have a bright future.

We should note that OMV Petrom has issued stock equal to 18% of shares outstanding. Regularly doing this can be detrimental - it's hard to grow dividends per share when new shares are regularly being created.

We Really Like OMV Petrom's Dividend

In summary, it is always positive to see the dividend being increased, and we are particularly pleased with its overall sustainability. The distributions are easily covered by earnings, and there is plenty of cash being generated as well. If earnings do fall over the next 12 months, the dividend could be buffeted a little bit, but we don't think it should cause too much of a problem in the long term. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. To that end, OMV Petrom has 3 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about. 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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