The board of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) has announced that it will be paying its dividend of $0.30 on the 15th of May, an increased payment from last year's comparable dividend. This takes the annual payment to 2.3% of the current stock price, which is about average for the industry.

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$Synchrony Financial(SYF-B)$'s Dividend Forecasted To Be Well Covered By Earnings

We like a dividend to be consistent over the long term, so checking whether it is sustainable is important.

Synchrony Financial has established itself as a dividend paying company, given its 9-year history of distributing earnings to shareholders. Using data from its latest earnings report, Synchrony Financial's payout ratio sits at 14%, an extremely comfortable number that shows that it can pay its dividend.

Looking forward, EPS is forecast to rise by 20.7% over the next 3 years. Analysts estimate the future payout ratio will be 16% over the same time period, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Check out our latest analysis for Synchrony Financial

Synchrony Financial Doesn't Have A Long Payment History

Even though the company has been paying a consistent dividend for a while, we would like to see a few more years before we feel comfortable relying on it. Since 2016, the dividend has gone from $0.52 total annually to $1.20. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 9.7% a year over that time. Investors will likely want to see a longer track record of growth before making decision to add this to their income portfolio.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. Synchrony Financial has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 11% per annum. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Synchrony Financial's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.

Synchrony Financial Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, we think this could be an attractive income stock, and it is only getting better by paying a higher dividend this year. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.

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. Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 16 analysts we track are forecasting for Synchrony Financial for free with public analyst estimates for the company. 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.