Schweitzer-Mauduit International (NYSE:SWM) Is Due To Pay A Dividend Of US$0.44

Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. (NYSE:SWM) will pay a dividend of US$0.44 on the 24th of June. This means the annual payment is 6.8% of the current stock price, which is above the average for the industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Schweitzer-Mauduit International

Schweitzer-Mauduit International's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. At the time of the last dividend payment, Schweitzer-Mauduit International was paying out a very large proportion of what it was earning and 587% of cash flows. Paying out such a high proportion of cash flows certainly exposes the company to cutting the dividend if cash flows were to reduce.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 25.1%. Under the assumption that the dividend will continue along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 67% which would be quite comfortable going to take the dividend forward.

Schweitzer-Mauduit International 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$0.30 in 2012 to the most recent annual payment of US$1.76. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 19% per annum over that time. So, dividends have been growing pretty quickly, and even more impressively, they haven't experienced any notable falls during this period.

The Dividend's Growth Prospects Are Limited

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. However, things aren't all that rosy. It's not great to see that Schweitzer-Mauduit International's earnings per share has fallen at approximately 2.8% per year over the past five years. If earnings continue declining, the company may have to make the difficult choice of reducing the dividend or even stopping it completely - the opposite of dividend growth. However, the next year is actually looking up, with earnings set to rise. We would just wait until it becomes a pattern before getting too excited.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about Schweitzer-Mauduit International's payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. In the past the payments have been stable, but we think the company is paying out too much for this to continue for the long term. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Just as an example, we've come across 3 warning signs for Schweitzer-Mauduit International you should be aware of, and 1 of them is potentially serious. Is Schweitzer-Mauduit International not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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