The board of Legal & General Group Plc (LON:LGEN) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend by 5.0% on the 6th of June to £0.1463, up from last year's comparable payment of £0.139. This makes the dividend yield 8.2%, which is above the industry average.

View our latest analysis for Legal & General Group

Legal & General Group's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. Prior to this announcement, the dividend made up 277% of earnings, and the company was generating negative free cash flows. Paying out such a large dividend compared to earnings while also not generating any free cash flow would definitely be difficult to keep up.

The next 12 months could see EPS growing very rapidly. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could reach 77%, which is on the higher side, but certainly feasible. historic-dividend

Legal & General Group Has A Solid Track Record

Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. Since 2014, the annual payment back then was £0.093, compared to the most recent full-year payment of £0.203. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 8.1% per annum over that time. The dividend has been growing very nicely for a number of years, and has given its shareholders some nice income in their portfolios.

Dividend Growth Potential Is Shaky

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. However, things aren't all that rosy. Earnings per share has been sinking by 25% over the last five years. This steep decline can indicate that the business is going through a tough time, which could constrain its ability to pay a larger dividend each year in the future. On the bright side, earnings are predicted to gain some ground over the next year, but until this turns into a pattern we wouldn't be feeling too comfortable.



The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think Legal & General Group's payments are rock solid. In the past the payments have been stable, but we think the company is paying out too much for this to continue for the long term. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. To that end, Legal & General Group has 3 warning signs (and 1 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about. Is Legal & General Group not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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