Yahoo Finance Autoliv (NYSE:ALV) Is Increasing Its Dividend To $0.66
Autoliv, Inc.'s (NYSE:ALV) dividend will be increasing from last year's payment of the same period to $0.66 on 23rd of March. This makes the dividend yield 2.9%, which is above the industry average.
See our latest analysis for Autoliv
Autoliv's Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions
A big dividend yield for a few years doesn't mean much if it can't be sustained. Prior to this announcement, Autoliv's dividend was only 53% of earnings, however it was paying out 178% of free cash flows. This signals that the company is more focused on returning cash flow to shareholders, but it could mean that the dividend is exposed to cuts in the future.
The next year is set to see EPS grow by 121.3%. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 23% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.
Dividend Volatility
The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $1.88 in 2013, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $2.64. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 3.5% per annum 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 Come By
With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share is growing, which could point to a growing dividend in the future. In the last five years, Autoliv's earnings per share has shrunk at approximately 6.0% per annum. A modest decline in earnings isn't great, and it makes it quite unlikely that the dividend will grow in the future unless that trend can be reversed. Earnings are forecast to grow over the next 12 months and if that happens we could still be a little bit cautious until it becomes a pattern.
The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable
Overall, this is probably not a great income stock, even though the dividend is being raised at the moment. With cash flows lacking, it is difficult to see how the company can sustain a dividend payment. We would be a touch cautious of relying on this stock primarily for the dividend income.
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 Autoliv that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. Is Autoliv not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.
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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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