The board of Steadfast Group Limited (ASX:SDF) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 27th of March, with investors receiving A$0.078 per share. Based on this payment, the dividend yield for the company will be 3.0%, which is fairly typical for the industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Steadfast Group

Steadfast Group's Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

Unless the payments are sustainable, the dividend yield doesn't mean too much. The last payment made up 86% of earnings, but cash flows were much higher. This leaves plenty of cash for reinvestment into the business.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 53.6% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 63%, which would make us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend, despite the levels currently being quite high.

Dividend Volatility

The company's dividend history has been marked by instability, with at least one cut in the last 10 years. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from A$0.054 total annually to A$0.171. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 12% over that duration. Despite the rapid growth in the dividend over the past number of years, we have seen the payments go down the past as well, so that makes us cautious.

Steadfast Group's Dividend Might Lack Growth

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. Steadfast Group has impressed us by growing EPS at 30% per year over the past five years. Earnings per share is growing nicely, but the company is paying out most of its earnings as dividends. This might be sustainable, but we wonder why Steadfast Group is not retaining those earnings to reinvest in growth.

Our Thoughts On Steadfast Group's Dividend

In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think Steadfast Group's payments are rock solid. 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. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.

It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For example, we've picked out 3 warning signs for Steadfast Group that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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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.