Wing Tai Holdings (SGX:W05) Is Paying Out A Dividend Of SGD0.06

The board of Wing Tai Holdings Limited (SGX:W05) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 18th of November, with investors receiving SGD0.06 per share. This payment means that the dividend yield will be 4.0%, which is around the industry average.

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Wing Tai Holdings Is Paying Out More Than It Is Earning

While it is always good to see a solid dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is feasible. However, prior to this announcement, Wing Tai Holdings' dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 88.8%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could reach over 200%, which could put the dividend under pressure if earnings don't start to improve.

Dividend Volatility

Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. The dividend has gone from an annual total of SGD0.07 in 2012 to the most recent total annual payment of SGD0.06. Doing the maths, this is a decline of about 1.5% per year. A company that decreases its dividend over time generally isn't what we are looking for.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

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. Wing Tai Holdings has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 45% per annum. Earnings per share is growing at a solid clip, and the payout ratio is low which we think is an ideal combination in a dividend stock as the company can quite easily raise the dividend in the future.

Wing Tai Holdings Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. The distributions are easily covered by earnings, and there is plenty of cash being generated as well. However, it is worth noting that the earnings are expected to fall over the next year, which may not change the long term outlook, but could affect the dividend payment in the next 12 months. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For example, we've identified 2 warning signs for Wing Tai Holdings (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of before investing. Is Wing Tai Holdings 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.