Yahoo Finance Is Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) A Smart Pick For Income Investors?
A sizeable part of portfolio returns can be produced by dividend stocks due to their contribution to compounding returns in the long run. Historically, Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) has paid a dividend to shareholders. It currently yields 3.6%. Let's dig deeper into whether Safety Insurance Group should have a place in your portfolio.
Check out our latest analysis for Safety Insurance Group
5 questions to ask before buying a dividend stock
When researching a dividend stock, I always follow the following screening criteria:
Does it pay an annual yield higher than 75% of dividend payers?
Does it consistently pay out dividends without missing a payment of significantly cutting payout?
Has the amount of dividend per share grown over the past?
Does earnings amply cover its dividend payments?
Will it have the ability to keep paying its dividends going forward?
Does Safety Insurance Group pass our checks?
The current trailing twelve-month payout ratio for the stock is 58%, which means that the dividend is covered by earnings. Furthermore, analysts have not forecasted a dividends per share for the future, which makes it hard to determine the yield shareholders should expect, and whether the current payout is sustainable, moving forward.
When considering the sustainability of dividends, it is also worth checking the cash flow of a company. A business with strong cash flow can sustain a higher divided payout ratio than a company with weak cash flow.
If there is one thing that you want to be reliable in your life, it's dividend stocks and their constant income stream. In the case of SAFT it has increased its DPS from $1.6 to $3.2 in the past 10 years. During this period it has not missed a payment, as one would expect for a company increasing its dividend. These are all positive signs of a great, reliable dividend stock.
Compared to its peers, Safety Insurance Group generates a yield of 3.6%, which is high for Insurance stocks but still below the market's top dividend payers.
Next Steps:
With these dividend metrics in mind, I definitely rank Safety Insurance Group as a strong income stock, and is worth further research for anyone who considers dividends an important part of their portfolio strategy. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I recommend taking sufficient time to understand its core business and determine whether the company and its investment properties suit your overall goals. I've put together three relevant factors you should look at:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for SAFT’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for SAFT’s outlook.
Valuation: What is SAFT worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it's not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether SAFT is currently mispriced by the market.
Other Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
