Yahoo Finance Enerflex (TSE:EFX) Has Announced A Dividend Of CA$0.025
Enerflex Ltd. (TSE:EFX) has announced that it will pay a dividend of CA$0.025 per share on the 7th of July. Including this payment, the dividend yield on the stock will be 1.3%, which is a modest boost for shareholders' returns.
Check out our latest analysis for Enerflex
Enerflex's Distributions May Be Difficult To Sustain
It would be nice for the yield to be higher, but we should also check if higher levels of dividend payment would be sustainable. Enerflex is not generating a profit, but its free cash flows easily cover the dividend, leaving plenty for reinvestment in the business. In general, cash flows are more important than the more traditional measures of profit so we feel pretty comfortable with the dividend at this level.
Recent, EPS has fallen by 4.9%, so this could continue over the next year. This means that the company won't turn a profit over the next year, but with healthy cash flows at the moment the dividend could still be okay to continue.
Dividend Volatility
Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. Since 2012, the first annual payment was CA$0.24, compared to the most recent full-year payment of CA$0.10. Doing the maths, this is a decline of about 8.4% per year. A company that decreases its dividend over time generally isn't what we are looking for.
Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve
With a relatively unstable dividend, and a poor history of shrinking dividends, it's even more important to see if EPS is growing. Enerflex has seen earnings per share falling at 4.9% per year over the last five years. 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.
The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable
Overall, we don't think this company makes a great dividend stock, even though the dividend wasn't cut this year. The payments haven't been particularly stable and we don't see huge growth potential, but with the dividend well covered by cash flows it could prove to be reliable over the short term. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.
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. As an example, we've identified 1 warning sign for Enerflex that you should be aware of before investing. 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.
