Devon Energy's (NYSE:DVN) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's

Simply Wall St
·3 min read
6

The board of Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) has announced that it will be paying its dividend of $1.55 on the 30th of September, an increased payment from last year's comparable dividend. This will take the annual payment to 9.6% of the stock price, which is above what most companies in the industry pay.

See our latest analysis for Devon Energy

Devon Energy's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

A big dividend yield for a few years doesn't mean much if it can't be sustained. Based on the last payment, Devon Energy was quite comfortably earning enough to cover the dividend. This indicates that quite a large proportion of earnings is being invested back into the business.

EPS is set to fall by 0.6% over the next 12 months. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 73%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.

historic-dividend
historic-dividend

Dividend Volatility

While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. The dividend has gone from an annual total of $0.68 in 2012 to the most recent total annual payment of $6.20. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 25% a year over that time. 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.

Devon Energy May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. Unfortunately, Devon Energy's earnings per share has been essentially flat over the past five years, which means the dividend may not be increased each year. Devon Energy is struggling to find viable investments, so it is returning more to shareholders. While this isn't necessarily a negative, it definitely signals that dividend growth could be constrained in the future unless earnings start to pick up again.

In Summary

In summary, it's great to see that the company can raise the dividend and keep it in a sustainable range. The dividend has been at reasonable levels historically, but that hasn't translated into a consistent payment. Taking all of this into consideration, the dividend looks viable moving forward, but investors should be mindful that the company has pushed the boundaries of sustainability in the past and may do so again.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Devon Energy (of which 1 shouldn't be ignored!) you should know about. 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.

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