The board of The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.35 per share on the 29th of April. This means the annual payment is 9.9% of the current stock price, which is above the average for the industry.

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Buckle's Projections Indicate Future Payments May Be Unsustainable

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. Based on the last payment, Buckle was paying only paying out a fraction of earnings, but the payment was a massive 103% of cash flows. A cash payout ratio this high could put the dividend under pressure and force the company to reduce it in the future if it were to run into tough times.

The next 12 months is set to see EPS grow by 3.5%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could reach 101%, which probably can't continue without putting some pressure on the balance sheet.

See our latest analysis for Buckle

Dividend Volatility

The company has a long dividend track record, but it doesn't look great with cuts in the past. The dividend has gone from an annual total of $2.08 in 2015 to the most recent total annual payment of $3.90. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 6.5% per annum over that time. We have seen cuts in the past, so while the growth looks promising we would be a little bit cautious about its track record.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. We are encouraged to see that Buckle has grown earnings per share at 13% per year over the past five years. Buckle definitely has the potential to grow its dividend in the future with earnings on an uptrend and a low payout ratio.

Our Thoughts On Buckle'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. With cash flows lacking, it is difficult to see how the company can sustain a dividend payment. 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. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Buckle that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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