Consider This Before Buying Atlas Arteria Limited (ASX:ALX) For The 3.6% Dividend
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Dividends can be underrated but they form a large part of investment returns, playing an important role in compounding returns in the long run. Historically, Atlas Arteria Limited (ASX:ALX) has paid dividends to shareholders, and these days it yields 3.6%. Should it have a place in your portfolio? Let’s take a look at Atlas Arteria in more detail.
Check out our latest analysis for Atlas Arteria
5 questions I ask before picking a dividend stock
When assessing a stock as a potential addition to my dividend Portfolio, I look at these five areas:
Is their annual yield among the top 25% of dividend payers?
Has it consistently paid a stable dividend without missing a payment or drastically cutting payout?
Has it increased its dividend per share amount over the past?
Can it afford to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings?
Based on future earnings growth, will it be able to continue to payout dividend at the current rate?
Does Atlas Arteria pass our checks?
ALX currently pays out twice what it is earning, according to its trailing twelve-month data, meaning that the dividend is predominantly funded by retained earnings. Going forward, analysts expect ALX’s payout to fall to 127% of its earnings. Assuming a constant share price, this equates to a dividend yield of 5.7%. Furthermore, EPS should increase to A$0.19, meaning that the lower payout ratio does not necessarily implicate a lower dividend payment.
When thinking about whether a dividend is sustainable, another factor to consider is the cash flow. A company with strong cash flow, relative to earnings, can sometimes sustain a high pay out ratio.
If there’s one type of stock you want to be reliable, it’s dividend stocks and their stable income-generating ability. Unfortunately, it is really too early to view Atlas Arteria as a dividend investment. It has only been consistently paying dividends for 6 years, however, standard practice for reliable payers is to look for a 10-year minimum track record.
Relative to peers, Atlas Arteria produces a yield of 3.6%, which is on the low-side for Infrastructure stocks.
Next Steps:
After digging a little deeper into Atlas Arteria’s yield, it’s easy to see why you should be cautious investing in the company just for the dividend. On the other hand, if you are not strictly just a dividend investor, the stock could still be offering some interesting investment opportunities. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, you should always research extensively before deciding whether or not a stock is an appropriate investment for you. I always recommend analysing the company’s fundamentals and underlying business before making an investment decision. There are three pertinent aspects you should further research:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for ALX’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for ALX’s outlook.
Valuation: What is ALX worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it’s not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether ALX is currently mispriced by the market.
Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
