Yahoo Finance Elevance Health's (NYSE:ELV) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's
Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend from last year's comparable payment on the 23rd of June to $1.48. This makes the dividend yield about the same as the industry average at 1.3%.
Check out our latest analysis for Elevance Health
Elevance Health's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings
We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important. However, prior to this announcement, Elevance Health's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that most of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.
Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 57.8% over the next year. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 15% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.
Elevance Health Has A Solid Track Record
The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. Since 2013, the dividend has gone from $1.15 total annually to $5.92. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 18% per annum over that time. So, dividends have been growing pretty quickly, and even more impressively, they haven't experienced any notable falls during this period.
The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow
Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. We are encouraged to see that Elevance Health has grown earnings per share at 10% per year over the past five years. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Elevance Health's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.
We Really Like Elevance Health's Dividend
Overall, a dividend increase is always good, and we think that Elevance Health is a strong income stock thanks to its track record and growing earnings. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Elevance Health that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield 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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