Oversea-Chinese Banking (SGX:O39) Is Increasing Its Dividend To S$0.28

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited's (SGX:O39) dividend will be increasing to S$0.28 on 20th of May. The announced payment will take the dividend yield to 4.3%, which is in line with the average for the industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Oversea-Chinese Banking

Oversea-Chinese Banking's Earnings Easily Cover the Distributions

We aren't too impressed by dividend yields unless they can be sustained over time. Based on the last payment, Oversea-Chinese Banking's earnings were much higher than the dividend, but it wasn't converting those earnings into cash flow. No cash flows could definitely make returning cash to shareholders difficult, or at least mean the balance sheet will come under pressure.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 12.0%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 46% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

Dividend Volatility

While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. The dividend has gone from S$0.30 in 2012 to the most recent annual payment of S$0.56. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 6.4% per annum over that time. 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 Growth Potential

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share is growing, which could point to a growing dividend in the future. We are encouraged to see that Oversea-Chinese Banking has grown earnings per share at 5.6% per year over the past five years. The company is paying out a lot of its cash as a dividend, but it looks okay based on the payout ratio.

In Summary

In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think Oversea-Chinese Banking's payments are rock solid. With cash flows lacking, it is difficult to see how the company can sustain a dividend payment. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. To that end, Oversea-Chinese Banking has 2 warning signs (and 1 which can't be ignored) we think you should know about. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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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.