ITV plc's (LON:ITV) investors are due to receive a payment of £0.017 per share on 26th of November. Based on this payment, the dividend yield on the company's stock will be 6.3%, which is an attractive boost to shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for ITV

ITV's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. The last dividend was quite comfortably covered by ITV's earnings, but it was a bit tighter on the cash flow front. The company is clearly earning enough to pay this type of dividend, but it is definitely focused on returning cash to shareholders, rather than growing the business.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 21.5%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 57%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis. historic-dividend

Dividend Volatility

While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. The dividend has gone from an annual total of £0.075 in 2014 to the most recent total annual payment of £0.05. Doing the maths, this is a decline of about 4.0% 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.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. Unfortunately, ITV's earnings per share has been essentially flat over the past five years, which means the dividend may not be increased each year.

Our Thoughts On ITV's Dividend

Overall, it's nice to see a consistent dividend payment, but we think that longer term, the current level of payment might be unsustainable. The low payout ratio is a redeeming feature, but generally we are not too happy with the payments ITV has been making. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for ITV (of which 1 is significant!) 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.