Weis Markets (NYSE:WMK) Will Pay A Dividend Of $0.34
The board of Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 4th of March, with investors receiving $0.34 per share. This makes the dividend yield 2.3%, which will augment investor returns quite nicely.
Check out our latest analysis for Weis Markets
Weis Markets' Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions
If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Before making this announcement, Weis Markets was paying a whopping 845% as a dividend, but this only made up 33% 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.
Looking forward, EPS could fall by 0.2% if the company can't turn things around from the last few years. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 33%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.
Weis Markets Has A Solid Track Record
Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. The dividend has gone from an annual total of $1.20 in 2014 to the most recent total annual payment of $1.36. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 1.3% per annum over that time. Slow and steady dividend growth might not sound that exciting, but dividends have been stable for ten years, which we think makes this a fairly attractive offer.
Weis Markets May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend
Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Unfortunately things aren't as good as they seem. Weis Markets hasn't seen much change in its earnings per share over the last five years.
Our Thoughts On Weis Markets' Dividend
Overall, it's nice to see a consistent dividend payment, but we think that longer term, the current level of payment might be unsustainable. While the low payout ratio is a redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.
Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For instance, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Weis Markets that investors should take into consideration. Is Weis Markets not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.
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