Today we’ll take a closer look at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg AG (VTX:HBLN) from a dividend investor’s perspective. Owning a strong business and reinvesting the dividends is widely seen as an attractive way of growing your wealth. Unfortunately, it’s common for investors to be enticed in by the seemingly attractive yield, and lose money when the company has to cut its dividend payments.
A 2.4% yield is nothing to get excited about, but investors probably think the long payment history suggests Hypothekarbank Lenzburg has some staying power. Some simple analysis can offer a lot of insights when buying a company for its dividend, and we’ll go through this below.
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SWX:HBLN Historical Dividend Yield, March 10th 2020
Payout ratios
Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable – hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company’s dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. In the last year, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg paid out 38% of its profit as dividends. A medium payout ratio strikes a good balance between paying dividends, and keeping enough back to invest in the business. Plus, there is room to increase the payout ratio over time.
We update our data on Hypothekarbank Lenzburg every 24 hours, so you can always get our latest analysis of its financial health, here.
Dividend Volatility
One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well – nasty. Hypothekarbank Lenzburg has been paying dividends for a long time, but for the purpose of this analysis, we only examine the past 10 years of payments. During this period the dividend has been stable, which could imply the business could have relatively consistent earnings power. Its most recent annual dividend was CHF110 per share, effectively flat on its first payment ten years ago.
Dividend Growth Potential
Dividend payments have been consistent over the past few years, but we should always check if earnings per share (EPS) are growing, as this will help maintain the purchasing power of the dividend. Hypothekarbank Lenzburg’s earnings per share have been essentially flat over the past five years. Over the long term, steady earnings per share is a risk as the value of the dividends can be reduced by inflation.
Conclusion
When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. Firstly, we like that Hypothekarbank Lenzburg has a low and conservative payout ratio. Moreover, earnings have been shrinking. While the dividends have been fairly steady, we’d wonder for how much longer this will be sustainable if earnings continue to decline. While we’re not hugely bearish on it, overall we think there are potentially better dividend stocks than Hypothekarbank Lenzburg out there.
Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is to one to which is more unpredictable. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Now, if you want to look closer, it would be worth checking out our free research on Hypothekarbank Lenzburg management tenure, salary, and performance.
Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of dividend stocks with a yield above 3%.
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.
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