Fluidra, S.A. (BME:FDR) has announced that it will pay a dividend of €0.243 per share on the 3rd of December. This makes the dividend yield about the same as the industry average at 2.7%.
We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important. Prior to this announcement, Fluidra's dividend made up quite a large proportion of earnings but only 48% of free cash flows. Since the dividend is just paying out cash to shareholders, we care more about the cash payout ratio from which we can see plenty is being left over for reinvestment in the business.
The next year is set to see EPS grow by 90.0%. Assuming the dividend continues along the course it has been charting recently, our estimates show the payout ratio being 39% which brings it into quite a comfortable range.
See our latest analysis for Fluidra
The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from €0.06 total annually to €0.60. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 26% a year over that time. It is great to see strong growth in the dividend payments, but cuts are concerning as it may indicate the payout policy is too ambitious.
With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. The business has been going well, which we can see by the fact that EPS has risen by 32% in the last year. It's nice to see earnings per share rising, but one year is too short a period to get excited about. Were this trend to continue, we'd be interested. However, Fluidra isn't reinvesting a lot back into the business, so we wonder how quickly it will be able to grow in the future. We do note though, one year is too short a time to be drawing strong conclusions about a company's future prospects.
Overall, we always like to see the dividend being raised, but we don't think Fluidra will make a great income stock. The payments haven't been particularly stable and we don't see huge growth potential, but with the dividend well covered by cash flows it could prove to be reliable over the short term. We don't think Fluidra is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For instance, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Fluidra that investors should take into consideration. 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.