The board of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) has announced that the dividend on 13th of January will be increased to $0.38, which will be 5.6% higher than last year's payment of $0.36 which covered the same period. This takes the annual payment to 1.6% of the current stock price, which is about average for the industry.

See our latest analysis for Toro

Toro's Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

We like to see a healthy dividend yield, but that is only helpful to us if the payment can continue. However, Toro's earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 7.5% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 39%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Toro Has A Solid Track Record

Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. Since 2014, the dividend has gone from $0.40 total annually to $1.44. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 14% over that duration. 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.

Toro Could Grow Its Dividend

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. We are encouraged to see that Toro has grown earnings per share at 8.6% per year over the past five years. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Toro's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.

We Really Like Toro's Dividend

Overall, a dividend increase is always good, and we think that Toro is a strong income stock thanks to its track record and growing earnings. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. As an example, we've identified 1 warning sign for Toro that you should be aware of before investing. 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.