Yahoo Finance Wacker Chemie (ETR:WCH) Is Paying Out A Larger Dividend Than Last Year
Wacker Chemie AG (ETR:WCH) will increase its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 23rd of May to €12.00. This will take the dividend yield to an attractive 8.2%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.
See our latest analysis for Wacker Chemie
Wacker Chemie Doesn't Earn Enough To Cover Its Payments
If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. The last payment was quite easily covered by earnings, but it made up 106% of cash flows. The company might be more focused on returning cash to shareholders, but paying out this much of its cash flow could expose the dividend to being cut in the future.
Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to fall by 53.0% over the next year. If the dividend continues along the path it has been on recently, the payout ratio in 12 months could be 131%, which is definitely a bit high to be sustainable going forward.
Dividend Volatility
The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2013, the dividend has gone from €0.60 total annually to €12.00. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 35% per annum over that time. Despite the rapid growth in the dividend over the past number of years, we have seen the payments go down the past as well, so that makes us cautious.
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. It's encouraging to see that Wacker Chemie has been growing its earnings per share at 40% a year over the past five years. Wacker Chemie is clearly able to grow rapidly while still returning cash to shareholders, positioning it to become a strong dividend payer in the future.
Our Thoughts On Wacker Chemie's Dividend
Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. While Wacker Chemie is earning enough to cover the payments, the cash flows are lacking. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.
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. Just as an example, we've come across 2 warning signs for Wacker Chemie you should be aware of, and 1 of them doesn't sit too well with us. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.
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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.
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