Paragon Banking Group (LON:PAG) Is Increasing Its Dividend To £0.264
Paragon Banking Group PLC's (LON:PAG) dividend will be increasing from last year's payment of the same period to £0.264 on 8th of March. Based on this payment, the dividend yield for the company will be 5.3%, which is fairly typical for the industry.
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 Paragon Banking Group's stock price has increased by 59% in the last 3 months, which is good for shareholders and can also explain a decrease in the dividend yield.
Check out our latest analysis for Paragon Banking Group
Paragon Banking Group's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage
We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important. The last dividend was quite easily covered by Paragon Banking Group's earnings. This indicates that a lot of the earnings are being reinvested into the business, with the aim of fueling growth.
Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 52.9%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 38%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.
Dividend Volatility
The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The dividend has gone from an annual total of £0.069 in 2014 to the most recent total annual payment of £0.374. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 18% 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 Has Growth Potential
With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. Paragon Banking Group has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 5.3% per annum. Earnings are on the uptrend, and it is only paying a small portion of those earnings to shareholders.
Our Thoughts On Paragon Banking Group's Dividend
In summary, it's great to see that the company can raise the dividend and keep it in a sustainable range. The payout ratio looks good, but unfortunately the company's dividend track record isn't stellar. Taking all of this into consideration, the dividend looks viable moving forward, but investors should be mindful that the company has pushed the boundaries of sustainability in the past and may do so again.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For example, we've picked out 2 warning signs for Paragon Banking Group that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Is Paragon Banking Group not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top 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.
