Imperial Equities' (CVE:IEI) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's

The board of Imperial Equities Inc. (CVE:IEI) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend by 33% on the 30th of April to CA$0.02. This makes the dividend yield 1.4%, which is above the industry average.

Check out our latest analysis for Imperial Equities

Imperial Equities' Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. Before making this announcement, Imperial Equities was easily earning enough to cover the dividend. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.

Over the next year, EPS could expand by 11.0% if recent trends continue. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 8.2%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

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Imperial Equities' Dividend Has Lacked Consistency

Looking back, Imperial Equities' dividend hasn't been particularly consistent. Due to this, we are a little bit cautious about the dividend consistency over a full economic cycle. Since 2013, the first annual payment was CA$0.10, compared to the most recent full-year payment of CA$0.06. Doing the maths, this is a decline of about 5.5% per year. Generally, we don't like to see a dividend that has been declining over time as this can degrade shareholders' returns and indicate that the company may be running into problems.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Dividends have been going in the wrong direction, so we definitely want to see a different trend in the earnings per share. Imperial Equities has impressed us by growing EPS at 11% per year over the past five years. A low payout ratio and decent growth suggests that the company is reinvesting well, and it also has plenty of room to increase the dividend over time.

Imperial Equities Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, we think this could be an attractive income stock, and it is only getting better by paying a higher dividend this year. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Imperial Equities (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.