Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.08 per share on the 12th of May. This means the annual payment will be 1.7% of the current stock price, which is lower than the industry average.

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Warrior Met Coal's Future Dividend Projections Appear Well Covered By Earnings

While yield is important, another factor to consider about a company's dividend is whether the current payout levels are feasible. Prior to this announcement, Warrior Met Coal's earnings easily covered the dividend, but free cash flows were negative. We think that cash flows should take priority over earnings, so this is definitely a worry for the dividend going forward.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 46.6%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 5.0% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

Check out our latest analysis for Warrior Met Coal

Warrior Met Coal's Dividend Has Lacked Consistency

Warrior Met Coal has been paying dividends for a while, but the track record isn't stellar. If the company cuts once, it definitely isn't argument against the possibility of it cutting in the future. The dividend has gone from an annual total of $0.20 in 2017 to the most recent total annual payment of $0.82. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 19% a year over that time. Despite the rapid growth in the dividend over the past number of years, we have seen the payments go down the past as well, so that makes us cautious.

Warrior Met Coal May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

Given that the dividend has been cut in the past, we need to check if earnings are growing and if that might lead to stronger dividends in the future. It's not great to see that Warrior Met Coal's earnings per share has fallen at approximately 4.1% per year over the past five years. A modest decline in earnings isn't great, and it makes it quite unlikely that the dividend will grow in the future unless that trend can be reversed. It's not all bad news though, as the earnings are predicted to rise over the next 12 months - we would just be a bit cautious until this can turn into a longer term trend.

Warrior Met Coal's Dividend Doesn't Look Sustainable

In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about Warrior Met Coal's payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. While the low payout ratio is a redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Warrior Met Coal (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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