HG Metal Manufacturing (SGX:BTG) Is Increasing Its Dividend To S$0.04

HG Metal Manufacturing Limited's (SGX:BTG) dividend will be increasing to S$0.04 on 20th of May. This will take the dividend yield from 9.4% to 9.4%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for HG Metal Manufacturing

HG Metal Manufacturing's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained. Based on the last dividend, HG Metal Manufacturing is earning enough to cover the payment, but the it makes up 96% of cash flows. While the company may be more focused on returning cash to shareholders than growing the business at this time, we think that a cash payout ratio this high might expose the dividend to being cut if the business ran into some challenges.

Over the next year, EPS could expand by 68.8% if recent trends continue. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 30%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Dividend Volatility

The company's dividend history has been marked by instability, with at least 1 cut in the last 10 years. Since 2012, the first annual payment was S$0.06, compared to the most recent full-year payment of S$0.04. Doing the maths, this is a decline of about 4.0% per year. Declining dividends isn't generally what we look for as they can indicate that the company is running into some challenges.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Given that the dividend has been cut in the past, we need to check if earnings are growing and if that might lead to stronger dividends in the future. HG Metal Manufacturing has impressed us by growing EPS at 69% per year over the past five years. The company doesn't have any problems growing, despite returning a lot of capital to shareholders, which is a very nice combination for a dividend stock to have.

In Summary

Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. With cash flows lacking, it is difficult to see how the company can sustain a dividend payment. We don't think HG Metal Manufacturing is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.

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 instance, we've picked out 2 warning signs for HG Metal Manufacturing that investors should take into consideration. Is HG Metal Manufacturing not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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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.