Ingles Markets, Incorporated's (NASDAQ:IMKT.A) investors are due to receive a payment of $0.165 per share on 17th of April. The dividend yield is 1.0% based on this payment, which is a little bit low compared to the other companies in the industry.

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Ingles Markets' Projected Earnings Seem Likely To Cover Future Distributions

It would be nice for the yield to be higher, but we should also check if higher levels of dividend payment would be sustainable. However, prior to this announcement, Ingles Markets' dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.

Over the next year, EPS could expand by 1.7% if recent trends continue. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 16%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

See our latest analysis for Ingles Markets

Ingles Markets Has A Solid Track Record

The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. The most recent annual payment of $0.66 is about the same as the annual payment 10 years ago. Dividends have grown relatively slowly, which is not great, but some investors may value the relative consistency of the dividend.

Ingles Markets May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Unfortunately, Ingles Markets' earnings per share has been essentially flat over the past five years, which means the dividend may not be increased each year. Earnings growth is slow, but on the plus side, the dividend payout ratio is low and dividends could grow faster than earnings, if the company decides to increase its payout ratio.

We Really Like Ingles Markets' Dividend

Overall, we like to see the dividend staying consistent, and we think Ingles Markets might even raise payments in the future. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Just as an example, we've come across 3 warning signs for Ingles Markets you should be aware of, and 1 of them is potentially serious. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.

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