Famous Brands (JSE:FBR) Is Increasing Its Dividend To ZAR2.33

Famous Brands Limited (JSE:FBR) will increase its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 10th of July to ZAR2.33. Based on this payment, the dividend yield for the company will be 7.5%, which is fairly typical for the industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Famous Brands

Famous Brands' Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important. Famous Brands was earning enough to cover the previous dividend, but it was paying out quite a large proportion of its free cash flows. The business is earning enough to make the dividend feasible, but the cash payout ratio of 94% indicates it is more focused on returning cash to shareholders than growing the business.

Looking forward, earnings per share could rise by 89.1% over the next year if the trend from the last few years continues. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 36% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

Dividend Volatility

The company's dividend history has been marked by instability, with at least one cut in the last 10 years. Since 2013, the annual payment back then was ZAR2.00, compared to the most recent full-year payment of ZAR4.66. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 8.8% over that duration. A reasonable rate of dividend growth is good to see, but we're wary that the dividend history is not as solid as we'd like, having been cut at least once.

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. Famous Brands has impressed us by growing EPS at 89% 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. The company hasn't been paying a very consistent dividend over time, despite only paying out a small portion of earnings. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.

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. As an example, we've identified 2 warning signs for Famous Brands that you should be aware of before investing. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield 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.