DFS Furniture (LON:DFS) Is Reducing Its Dividend To £0.037

DFS Furniture plc's (LON:DFS) dividend is being reduced from last year's payment covering the same period to £0.037 on the 29th of December. This means that the dividend yield is 6.7%, which is a bit low when comparing to other companies in the industry.

See our latest analysis for DFS Furniture

DFS Furniture's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

The dividend yield is a little bit low, but sustainability of the payments is also an important part of evaluating an income stock. Based on the last payment, DFS Furniture was quite comfortably earning enough to cover the dividend. This means that a large portion of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 84.0% over the next year. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 49% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

historic-dividend
historic-dividend

DFS Furniture's Dividend Has Lacked Consistency

DFS Furniture has been paying dividends for a while, but the track record isn't stellar. This suggests that the dividend might not be the most reliable. The annual payment during the last 8 years was £0.062 in 2014, and the most recent fiscal year payment was £0.074. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 2.2% a year over that time. It's encouraging to see some dividend growth, but the dividend has been cut at least once, and the size of the cut would eliminate most of the growth anyway, which makes this less attractive as an income investment.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve

Given that the dividend has been cut in the past, we need to check if earnings are growing and if that might lead to stronger dividends in the future. DFS Furniture hasn't seen much change in its earnings per share over the last five years. The company has been growing at a pretty soft 0.07% per annum, and is paying out quite a lot of its earnings 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.

Our Thoughts On DFS Furniture's Dividend

Even though the dividend was cut this year, we think DFS Furniture has the ability to make consistent payments in the future. While the payout ratios are a good sign, we are less enthusiastic about the company's dividend record. This looks like it could be a good dividend stock going forward, but we would note that the payout ratio has been at higher levels in the past so it could happen again.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For example, we've picked out 2 warning signs for DFS Furniture 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here