Adastria Co., Ltd.'s (TSE:2685) investors are due to receive a payment of ¥45.00 per share on 22nd of October. This will take the annual payment to 3.1% of the stock price, which is above what most companies in the industry pay.
While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. The last dividend was quite easily covered by Adastria's earnings. This indicates that quite a large proportion of earnings is being invested back into the business.
Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 9.5% over the next year. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 46% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.
Check out our latest analysis for Adastria
The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The annual payment during the last 10 years was ¥37.50 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was ¥90.00. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 9.1% a year over that time. We like to see dividends have grown at a reasonable rate, but with at least one substantial cut in the payments, we're not certain this dividend stock would be ideal for someone intending to live on the income.
Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. It's encouraging to see that Adastria has been growing its earnings per share at 40% a 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.
Overall, we think this could be an attractive income stock, and it is only getting better by paying a higher dividend this year. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an 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. For example, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Adastria 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 yield dividend stocks.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.