Lam Soon (Hong Kong) Limited (HKG:411) has announced that it will be increasing its periodic dividend on the 3rd of December to HK$0.27, which will be 35% higher than last year's comparable payment amount of HK$0.20. Even though the dividend went up, the yield is still quite low at only 4.1%.

See our latest analysis for Lam Soon (Hong Kong)

Lam Soon (Hong Kong)'s Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

While yield is important, another factor to consider about a company's dividend is whether the current payout levels are feasible. Before making this announcement, Lam Soon (Hong Kong) was easily earning enough to cover the dividend. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.

EPS is set to fall by 9.9% over the next 12 months if recent trends continue. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 55%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. Since 2014, the annual payment back then was HK$0.24, compared to the most recent full-year payment of HK$0.33. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 3.2% per annum over that time. It's encouraging to see some dividend growth, but the dividend has been cut at least once, and the size of the cut would eliminate most of the growth anyway, which makes this less attractive as an income investment.

Dividend Growth Is Doubtful

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Over the past five years, it looks as though Lam Soon (Hong Kong)'s EPS has declined at around 9.9% a year. Declining earnings will inevitably lead to the company paying a lower dividend in line with lower profits.

Our Thoughts On Lam Soon (Hong Kong)'s Dividend

Overall, we always like to see the dividend being raised, but we don't think Lam Soon (Hong Kong) will make a great income stock. The payments haven't been particularly stable and we don't see huge growth potential, but with the dividend well covered by cash flows it could prove to be reliable over the short term. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock.

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. Just as an example, we've come across 2 warning signs for Lam Soon (Hong Kong) you should be aware of, and 1 of them is concerning. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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