Pembina Pipeline (TSE:PPL) Will Pay A Dividend Of CA$0.21

The board of Pembina Pipeline Corporation (TSE:PPL) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 15th of November, with investors receiving CA$0.21 per share. This makes the dividend yield 5.9%, which will augment investor returns quite nicely.

View our latest analysis for Pembina Pipeline

Pembina Pipeline Might Find It Hard To Continue The Dividend

A big dividend yield for a few years doesn't mean much if it can't be sustained. Even while not generating a profit, Pembina Pipeline is paying out most of its free cash flows as a dividend. Generally it is unsustainable for a company to be paying a dividend while unprofitable, and with limited reinvestment into the business growth may be slow.

Looking forward, earnings per share could 8.8% over the next year if the trend of the last few years can't be broken. This means the company won't be turning a profit, which could place managers in the tough spot of having to choose between suspending the dividend or putting more pressure on the balance sheet.

Pembina Pipeline Has A Solid Track Record

Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. The dividend has gone from CA$1.56 in 2011 to the most recent annual payment of CA$2.52. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 4.9% per annum over that time. Slow and steady dividend growth might not sound that exciting, but dividends have been stable for ten years, which we think makes this a fairly attractive offer.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Come By

Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Let's not jump to conclusions as things might not be as good as they appear on the surface. Pembina Pipeline has seen earnings per share falling at 8.8% per year over the last five years. A modest decline in earnings isn't great, and it makes it quite unlikely that the dividend will grow in the future unless that trend can be reversed.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about Pembina Pipeline's payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. 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 don't think Pembina Pipeline is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For example, we've identified 3 warning signs for Pembina Pipeline (2 make us uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of before investing. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high performing dividend stock.

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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