Eli Lilly's (NYSE:LLY) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's

The board of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) has announced that it will be paying its dividend of $1.13 on the 10th of March, an increased payment from last year's comparable dividend. Despite this raise, the dividend yield of 1.4% is only a modest boost to shareholder returns.

See our latest analysis for Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

If it is predictable over a long period, even low dividend yields can be attractive. Eli Lilly was earning enough to cover the previous dividend, but it was paying out quite a large proportion of its free cash flows. The company is clearly earning enough to pay this type of dividend, but it is definitely focused on returning cash to shareholders, rather than growing the business.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 113.4% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 33%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Eli Lilly Has A Solid Track Record

The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $1.96 in 2013, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $4.52. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 8.7% per annum over that time. The growth of the dividend has been pretty reliable, so we think this can offer investors some nice additional income in their portfolio.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. It's encouraging to see that Eli Lilly has been growing its earnings per share at 25% a year over the past five years. Eli Lilly is clearly able to grow rapidly while still returning cash to shareholders, positioning it to become a strong dividend payer in the future.

In Summary

Overall, this is a reasonable dividend, and it being raised is an added bonus. However, lack of cash flows makes us wary of the potential for cuts in the dividend's future, even though the dividend is generally looking okay. This looks like it could be a good dividend stock going forward, but we would note that the payout ratio has been at higher levels in the past so it could happen again.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For instance, we've picked out 3 warning signs for Eli Lilly that investors should take into consideration. 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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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.

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