Transpaco (JSE:TPC) Is Increasing Its Dividend To R0.60

The board of Transpaco Limited (JSE:TPC) has announced that the dividend on 22nd of March will be increased to R0.60, which will be 40% higher than last year. This will take the dividend yield from 6.3% to 7.0%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.

While the dividend yield is important for income investors, it is also important to consider any large share price moves, as this will generally outweigh any gains from distributions. Investors will be pleased to see that Transpaco's stock price has increased by 39% in the last 3 months, which is good for shareholders and can also explain a decrease in the dividend yield.

View our latest analysis for Transpaco

Transpaco'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, Transpaco's dividend was only 45% of earnings, however it was paying out 97% of free cash flows. This signals that the company is more focused on returning cash flow to shareholders, but it could mean that the dividend is exposed to cuts in the future.

If the trend of the last few years continues, EPS will grow by 1.0% over the next 12 months. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 47% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The first annual payment during the last 10 years was R0.72 in 2012, and the most recent fiscal year payment was R1.53. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 7.8% per annum over that time. 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.

Transpaco May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

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. Unfortunately, Transpaco's earnings per share has been essentially flat over the past five years, which means the dividend may not be increased each year. Growth of 1.0% may indicate that the company has limited investment opportunity so it is returning its earnings to shareholders instead. This could mean the dividend doesn't have the growth potential we look for going into the future.

Our Thoughts On Transpaco's Dividend

In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think Transpaco's payments are rock solid. While the low payout ratio is redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income 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. Just as an example, we've come across 4 warning signs for Transpaco you should be aware of, and 1 of them is concerning. Is Transpaco 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.