Should TC PipeLines LP (NYSE:TCP) Be Part Of Your Dividend Portfolio?
A large part of investment returns can be generated by dividend-paying stock given their role in compounding returns over time. Historically, TC PipeLines LP (NYSE:TCP) has been paying a dividend to shareholders. Today it yields 7.4%. Does TC PipeLines tick all the boxes of a great dividend stock? Below, I’ll take you through my analysis.
See our latest analysis for TC PipeLines
How I analyze a dividend stock
When assessing a stock as a potential addition to my dividend Portfolio, I look at these five areas:
Is it the top 25% annual dividend yield payer?
Has its dividend been stable over the past (i.e. no missed payments or significant payout cuts)?
Has the amount of dividend per share grown over the past?
Does earnings amply cover its dividend payments?
Will it be able to continue to payout at the current rate in the future?
How well does TC PipeLines fit our criteria?
The company currently pays out 88.5% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, meaning the dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Going forward, analysts expect TCP’s payout to remain around the same level at 81.8% of its earnings, which leads to a dividend yield of around 7.6%. In addition to this, EPS is forecasted to fall to $3.66 in the upcoming year.
When thinking about whether a dividend is sustainable, another factor to consider is the cash flow. Cash flow is important because companies with strong cash flow can usually sustain higher payout ratios.
Reliablity is an important factor for dividend stocks, particularly for income investors who want a strong track record of payment and a positive outlook for future payout. Dividend payments from TC PipeLines have been volatile in the past 10 years, with some years experiencing significant drops of over 25%. These characteristics do not bode well for income investors seeking reliable stream of dividends.
In terms of its peers, TC PipeLines produces a yield of 7.4%, which is high for Oil and Gas stocks.
Next Steps:
Considering the dividend attributes we analyzed above, TC PipeLines is definitely worth keeping an eye on for someone looking to build a dedicated income portfolio. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I urge potential investors to try and get a good understanding of the underlying business and its fundamentals before deciding on an investment. I’ve put together three relevant factors you should further examine:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for TCP’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for TCP’s outlook.
Valuation: What is TCP 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 TCP is currently mispriced by the market.
Other 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.
