HOCHTIEF Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:HOT) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 5th of May to €5.23. This takes the annual payment to 3.4% of the current stock price, which is about average for the industry.
See our latest analysis for HOCHTIEF
While it is always good to see a solid dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is feasible. Prior to this announcement, HOCHTIEF's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that a large portion of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.
Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 0.09% over the next year. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 55% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.
While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. The annual payment during the last 10 years was €1.50 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was €5.23. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 13% over that duration. 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.
Given that the dividend has been cut in the past, we need to check if earnings are growing and if that might lead to stronger dividends in the future. HOCHTIEF has seen earnings per share falling at 3.0% per year over the last five years. If earnings continue declining, the company may have to make the difficult choice of reducing the dividend or even stopping it completely - the opposite of dividend growth. Earnings are predicted to grow over the next year, but we would remain cautious until a track record of earnings growth is established.
Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. The company is generating plenty of cash, which could maintain the dividend for a while, but the track record hasn't been great. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock.
Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for HOCHTIEF (of which 2 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about. Is HOCHTIEF not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.