WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Is Increasing Its Dividend To $0.83
WD-40 Company's (NASDAQ:WDFC) dividend will be increasing from last year's payment of the same period to $0.83 on 28th of April. This takes the annual payment to 1.9% of the current stock price, which unfortunately is below what the industry is paying.
See our latest analysis for WD-40
WD-40's Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions
While yield is important, another factor to consider about a company's dividend is whether the current payout levels are feasible. Prior to this announcement, WD-40's dividend was only 69% of earnings, however it was paying out 677% of free 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.
The next year is set to see EPS grow by 38.9%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 55%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.
WD-40 Has A Solid Track Record
The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. Since 2013, the dividend has gone from $1.16 total annually to $3.32. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 11% per annum over that time. We can see that payments have shown some very nice upward momentum without faltering, which provides some reassurance that future payments will also be reliable.
Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve
Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. Earnings has been rising at 3.9% per annum over the last five years, which admittedly is a bit slow. Growth of 3.9% may indicate that the company has limited investment opportunity so it is returning its earnings to shareholders instead. This isn't bad in itself, but unless earnings growth pick up we wouldn't expect dividends to grow either.
In Summary
Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. While the low payout ratio is a redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. We don't think WD-40 is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.
It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for WD-40 (of which 2 shouldn't be ignored!) 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.
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