Yahoo Finance Legal & General Group's (LON:LGEN) Shareholders Will Receive A Bigger Dividend Than Last Year
Legal & General Group Plc ( LON:LGEN ) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend on the 1st of June to UK£0.13, which will be 5.0% higher than last year. This will take the dividend yield to 6.7%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.
View our latest analysis for Legal & General Group
Legal & General Group's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage
Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained. Prior to this announcement, Legal & General Group's earnings easily covered the dividend, but free cash flows were negative. No cash flows could definitely make returning cash to shareholders difficult, or at least mean the balance sheet will come under pressure.
Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to fall by 2.0% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could be 58%, which we consider to be quite comfortable, with most of the company's earnings left over to grow the business in the future.
Legal & General Group Has A Solid Track Record
Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. Since 2012, the dividend has gone from UK£0.051 to UK£0.18. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 14% over that duration. 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
Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Legal & General Group has impressed us by growing EPS at 12% per year over the past five years. The company is paying out a lot of its cash as a dividend, but it looks okay based on the payout ratio.
Our Thoughts On Legal & General Group's Dividend
Overall, we always like to see the dividend being raised, but we don't think Legal & General Group will make a great income stock. While Legal & General Group is earning enough to cover the payments, the cash flows are lacking. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.
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. Just as an example, we've come across 2 warning signs for Legal & General Group you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit concerning. 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.
