Olympus (TSE:7733) Will Pay A Larger Dividend Than Last Year At ¥30.00

Olympus Corporation's (TSE:7733) dividend will be increasing from last year's payment of the same period to ¥30.00 on 5th of June. This makes the dividend yield 1.5%, which is above the industry average.

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Olympus' Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. But before making this announcement, Olympus' earnings quite easily covered the dividend. The business is earning enough to make the dividend feasible, but the cash payout ratio of 90% shows that most of the cash is going back to the shareholders, which could constrain growth prospects going forward.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 12.1% over the next year. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 35% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

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Olympus Has A Solid Track Record

The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. Since 2015, the annual payment back then was ¥2.50, compared to the most recent full-year payment of ¥30.00. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 28% per annum over that time. 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.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. We are encouraged to see that Olympus has grown earnings per share at 22% per year over the past five years. Earnings have been growing rapidly, and with a low payout ratio we think that the company could turn out to be a great dividend stock.

In Summary

Overall, this is a reasonable dividend, and it being raised is an added bonus. However, lack of cash flows makes us wary of the potential for cuts in the dividend's future, even though the dividend is generally looking okay. The payment isn't stellar, but it could make a decent addition to a dividend portfolio.

It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Earnings growth generally bodes well for the future value of company dividend payments. See if the 13 Olympus analysts we track are forecasting continued growth with our free report on analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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