Infratil Limited (NZSE:IFT) has announced that on 19th of December, it will be paying a dividend ofNZ$0.0752, which a reduction from last year's comparable dividend. This payment takes the dividend yield to 1.9%, which only provides a modest boost to overall returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Infratil

Infratil's Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

While yield is important, another factor to consider about a company's dividend is whether the current payout levels are feasible. Before making this announcement, Infratil was paying a whopping 132% as a dividend, but this only made up 10% of its overall earnings. While the business may be attempting to set a balanced dividend policy, a cash payout ratio this high might expose the dividend to being cut if the business ran into some challenges.

If the trend of the last few years continues, EPS will grow by 68.9% over the next 12 months. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 7.9% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range. historic-dividend

Infratil Has A Solid Track Record

The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. The annual payment during the last 10 years was NZ$0.0925 in 2013, and the most recent fiscal year payment was NZ$0.193. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 7.6% a year over that time. Dividends have grown at a reasonable rate over this period, and without any major cuts in the payment over time, we think this is an attractive combination as it provides a nice boost to shareholder returns.

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. It's encouraging to see that Infratil has been growing its earnings per share at 69% a year over the past five years. Rapid earnings growth and a low payout ratio suggest this company has been effectively reinvesting in its business. Should that continue, this company could have a bright future.



We should note that Infratil has issued stock equal to 15% of shares outstanding. Regularly doing this can be detrimental - it's hard to grow dividends per share when new shares are regularly being created.

Our Thoughts On Infratil's Dividend

In summary, dividends being cut isn't ideal, however it can bring the payment into a more sustainable range. While the low payout ratio is a redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. We don't think Infratil is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.

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. For example, we've identified 4 warning signs for Infratil (2 are potentially serious!) 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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