H.B. Fuller's (NYSE:FUL) Shareholders Will Receive A Bigger Dividend Than Last Year
H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend on the 28th of July to US$0.19. This takes the annual payment to 1.2% of the current stock price, which unfortunately is below what the industry is paying.
See our latest analysis for H.B. Fuller
H.B. Fuller's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings
Even a low dividend yield can be attractive if it is sustained for years on end. Before making this announcement, H.B. Fuller was paying a whopping 407% as a dividend, but this only made up 21% of its overall earnings. While the business may be attempting to set a balanced dividend policy, a cash payout ratio this high might expose the dividend to being cut if the business ran into some challenges.
The next year is set to see EPS grow by 36.1%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 17% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.
H.B. Fuller Has A Solid Track Record
Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. Since 2012, the dividend has gone from US$0.30 to US$0.76. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 9.7% over that duration. Companies like this can be very valuable over the long term, if the decent rate of growth can be maintained.
H.B. Fuller Could Grow Its Dividend
The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. We are encouraged to see that H.B. Fuller has grown earnings per share at 7.1% per year over the past five years. A low payout ratio and decent growth suggests that the company is reinvesting well, and it also has plenty of room to increase the dividend over time.
Our Thoughts On H.B. Fuller's Dividend
In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think H.B. Fuller's payments are rock solid. While H.B. Fuller is earning enough to cover the payments, the cash flows are lacking. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.
Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for H.B. Fuller (of which 1 doesn't sit too well with us!) you should know about. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.
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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.
