Singapore Technologies Engineering (SGX:S63) Will Pay A Dividend Of S$0.05

Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd's (SGX:S63) investors are due to receive a payment of S$0.05 per share on 31st of August. This means the annual payment is 3.7% of the current stock price, which is above the average for the industry.

View our latest analysis for Singapore Technologies Engineering

Singapore Technologies Engineering's Earnings Easily Cover the Distributions

Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained. Prior to this announcement, Singapore Technologies Engineering's dividend made up quite a large proportion of earnings but only 38% of free cash flows. Since the dividend is just paying out cash to shareholders, we care more about the cash payout ratio from which we can see plenty is being left over for reinvestment in the business.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 5.2%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, our estimates say the payout ratio could reach 95%. This is definitely on the higher side, but we wouldn't necessarily say this is unsustainable.

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$0.15 in 2011 to the most recent annual payment of S$0.15. Its dividends have grown at less than 1% per annum over this time frame. We're glad to see the dividend has risen, but with a limited rate of growth and fluctuations in the payments the total shareholder return may be limited.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve

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. Singapore Technologies Engineering hasn't seen much change in its earnings per share over the last five years.

In Summary

Overall, it's nice to see a consistent dividend payment, but we think that longer term, the current level of payment might be unsustainable. The company is generating plenty of cash, which could maintain the dividend for a while, but the track record hasn't been great. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For instance, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Singapore Technologies Engineering that investors should take into consideration. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high performing dividend stock.

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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.
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