Pluxee N.V. (EPA:PLX) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 23rd of December to €0.38. The payment will take the dividend yield to 2.9%, which is in line with the average for the industry.
We like to see a healthy dividend yield, but that is only helpful to us if the payment can continue. However, Pluxee's earnings easily cover the dividend. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.
The next year is set to see EPS grow by 30.9%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 21%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.
See our latest analysis for Pluxee
The company hasn't been paying a dividend for very long at all, so we can't really make a judgement on how stable the dividend has been. This doesn't mean that the company can't pay a good dividend, but just that we want to wait until it can prove itself.
Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Earnings have grown at around 4.7% a year for the past three years, which isn't massive but still better than seeing them shrink. While EPS growth is quite low, Pluxee has the option to increase the payout ratio to return more cash to shareholders.
Overall, this is a reasonable dividend, and it being raised is an added bonus. The dividend has been at reasonable levels historically, but that hasn't translated into a consistent payment. This looks like it could be a good dividend stock going forward, but we would note that the payout ratio has been at higher levels in the past so it could happen again.
It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Earnings growth generally bodes well for the future value of company dividend payments. See if the 12 Pluxee analysts we track are forecasting continued growth with our free report on analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.
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