Ricegrowers Limited (ASX:SGLLV) is reducing its dividend to AU$0.30 on the 29th of July. This means the annual payment is 5.3% of the current stock price, which is above the average for the industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Ricegrowers

Ricegrowers' Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained. Prior to this announcement, the company was paying out 112% of what it was earning and 85% of cash flows. The company could be more focused on returning cash to shareholders, but this could indicate that growth opportunities are few and far between.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 62.9% over the next year. Assuming the dividend continues along the course it has been charting recently, our estimates show the payout ratio being 67% which brings it into quite a comfortable range. historic-dividend

Ricegrowers' Dividend Has Lacked Consistency

Ricegrowers has been paying dividends for a while, but the track record isn't stellar. If the company cuts once, it definitely isn't argument against the possibility of it cutting in the future. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from AU$0.26 to AU$0.40. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 6.3% over that duration. A reasonable rate of dividend growth is good to see, but we're wary that the dividend history is not as solid as we'd like, having been cut at least once.

Dividend Growth Potential Is Shaky

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. Ricegrowers' earnings per share has shrunk at 15% a year over the past five years. This steep decline can indicate that the business is going through a tough time, which could constrain its ability to pay a larger dividend each year in the future. Over the next year, however, earnings are actually predicted to rise, but we would still be cautious until a track record of earnings growth can be built.



Ricegrowers' Dividend Doesn't Look Sustainable

Overall, it's not great to see that the dividend has been cut, but this might be explained by the payments being a bit high previously. The track record isn't great, and the payments are a bit high to be considered sustainable. We don't think Ricegrowers is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For example, we've picked out 3 warning signs for Ricegrowers that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Is Ricegrowers not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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