Not all dividends are created equal. Here, we'll do a top-to-bottom analysis of a given company to understand the quality of its dividend and how that's changed over the past five years.
The company we're looking at today is Hawaiian Electric (NYSE: HE ) , which yields 4.7%.
Industry
Hawaiian Electric is an electric utility. When the electricity market went through deregulation, utilities had to choose between being distributors or producers. Hawaiian's electricity is sold in a largely regulated market. Since the company is largely regulated, the stock is stable like the average utility company.
Dividend
To evaluate the quality of a dividend, the first thing to consider is whether the company has paid a dividend consistently over the past five years, and, if so, how much it has grown.
Hawaiian Electric's dividend has been stable at $0.31 per quarter for the past five years.
Immediate safety
To understand how safe a dividend is, we use three crucial tools, the first of which is:
- The interest coverage ratio, or the number of times interest is earned, which is calculated by earnings before interest and taxes, divided by interest expense. The interest coverage ratio measures a company's ability to pay the interest on its debt. A ratio less than 1.5 is questionable; a number less than 1 means the company is not bringing in enough money to cover its interest expenses.
Hawaiian Electric covers every $1 in interest expense with $3 in operating earnings.
Sustainability
The other tool we use to evaluate the safety of a dividend is:
Source: S&P Capital IQ.
Hawaiian Electric's payout ratio went way up during the recession but since then has been steadily falling the past two years to its current 91%.
Alternatives
Source: S&P Capital IQ.
There are some alternatives in the industry. PPL (NYSE: PPL ) also has a yield of 4.7%, but has a much lower payout ratio than Hawaiian Electric at 53%. Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN ) has a yield of 4.5% and a payout ratio of 95%. Last but not least is Dominion Resources (NYSE: D ) , with a yield of 3.7% and a payout ratio of 74%.
Another tool for better investing
Most investors don't keep tabs on their companies. That's a mistake. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot potential trouble early. We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock-tracking service.
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