WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) Has Announced A Dividend Of $0.03

The board of WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.03 per share on the 1st of March. This means the dividend yield will be fairly typical at 2.1%.

View our latest analysis for WisdomTree

WisdomTree's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

Unless the payments are sustainable, the dividend yield doesn't mean too much. However, prior to this announcement, WisdomTree's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to expand by 19.2%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 23% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

WisdomTree's Dividend Has Lacked Consistency

Looking back, WisdomTree's dividend hasn't been particularly consistent. This makes us cautious about the consistency of the dividend over a full economic cycle. Since 2015, the annual payment back then was $0.32, compared to the most recent full-year payment of $0.12. Dividend payments have fallen sharply, down 63% over that time. A company that decreases its dividend over time generally isn't what we are looking for.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Given that the track record hasn't been stellar, we really want to see earnings per share growing over time. WisdomTree has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 12% per annum. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for WisdomTree's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.

We Really Like WisdomTree's Dividend

Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. 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. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For example, we've picked out 1 warning sign for WisdomTree that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. 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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