Espec (TSE:6859) Is Due To Pay A Dividend Of ¥45.00

Espec Corp. (TSE:6859) will pay a dividend of ¥45.00 on the 10th of December. This makes the dividend yield 3.6%, which is above the industry average.

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 Espec's stock price has increased by 49% in the last 3 months, which is good for shareholders and can also explain a decrease in the dividend yield.

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Espec's Projected Earnings Seem Likely To Cover Future Distributions

A big dividend yield for a few years doesn't mean much if it can't be sustained. Based on the last payment, Espec was paying only paying out a fraction of earnings, but the payment was a massive 111% of cash flows. A cash payout ratio this high could put the dividend under pressure and force the company to reduce it in the future if it were to run into tough times.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 8.1% over the next year. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 39% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

See our latest analysis for Espec

Dividend Volatility

The company's dividend history has been marked by instability, with at least one cut in the last 10 years. The dividend has gone from an annual total of ¥26.00 in 2015 to the most recent total annual payment of ¥115.00. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 16% per annum 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.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

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. We are encouraged to see that Espec has grown earnings per share at 17% per year over the past five years. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Espec's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.

Our Thoughts On Espec's Dividend

Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. While Espec is earning enough to cover the payments, the cash flows are lacking. We would be a touch cautious of relying on this stock primarily for the dividend income.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. For instance, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Espec that investors should take into consideration. Is Espec not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.