The board of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.40 per share on the 28th of March. This means the annual payment is 5.5% of the current stock price, which is above the average for the industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Kraft Heinz

Kraft Heinz's Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. Before this announcement, Kraft Heinz was paying out 71% of earnings, but a comparatively small 63% of free cash flows. Since the dividend is just paying out cash to shareholders, we care more about the cash payout ratio from which we can see plenty is being left over for reinvestment in the business.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 39.2%. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 48% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

Kraft Heinz's Dividend Has Lacked Consistency

Even in its relatively short history, the company has reduced the dividend at least once. This makes us cautious about the consistency of the dividend over a full economic cycle. Since 2016, the dividend has gone from $2.30 total annually to $1.60. Doing the maths, this is a decline of about 4.0% per year. Generally, we don't like to see a dividend that has been declining over time as this can degrade shareholders' returns and indicate that the company may be running into problems.

The Dividend Has Growth Potential

Given that the dividend has been cut in the past, we need to check if earnings are growing and if that might lead to stronger dividends in the future. It's encouraging to see that Kraft Heinz has been growing its earnings per share at 7.7% a year over the past five years. EPS has been growing at a reasonable rate, although with most of the profits being paid out to shareholders, growth prospects could be more limited in the future.

In Summary

Overall, we think Kraft Heinz is a solid choice as a dividend stock, even though the dividend wasn't raised this year. The dividend has been at reasonable levels historically, but that hasn't translated into a consistent payment. The dividend looks okay, but there have been some issues in the past, so we would be a little bit cautious.

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. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 2 warning signs for Kraft Heinz that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. Is Kraft Heinz not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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