Everest Re Group (NYSE:RE) Has Re-Affirmed Its Dividend Of US$1.55

Everest Re Group, Ltd. (NYSE:RE) will pay a dividend of US$1.55 on the 15th of September. This means that the annual payment will be 2.3% of the current stock price, which is in line with the average for the industry.

See our latest analysis for Everest Re Group

Everest Re Group's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

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

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 6.3%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 19% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

Everest Re Group Has A Solid Track Record

Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. The dividend has gone from US$1.92 in 2011 to the most recent annual payment of US$6.20. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 12% over that duration. We can see that payments have shown some very nice upward momentum without faltering, which provides some reassurance that future payments will also be reliable.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Everest Re Group has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 13% per annum. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Everest Re Group's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.

We Really Like Everest Re Group's Dividend

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. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For example, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Everest Re Group that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. 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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