Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) will increase its dividend on the 24th of September to US$0.21. This will take the annual payment to 3.1% of the stock price, which is above what most companies in the industry pay.

Check out our latest analysis for Healthcare Services Group

Healthcare Services Group's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Based on the last payment, Healthcare Services Group was quite comfortably earning enough to cover the dividend. This means that a large portion of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 2.9%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 73%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.

Healthcare Services Group Has A Solid Track Record

The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. Since 2011, the first annual payment was US$0.62, compared to the most recent full-year payment of US$0.83. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 3.0% 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.

The Dividend Has Growth Potential

Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. We are encouraged to see that Healthcare Services Group has grown earnings per share at 6.3% per year over the past five years. Shareholders are getting plenty of the earnings returned to them, which combined with strong growth makes this quite appealing.

We Really Like Healthcare Services Group's Dividend

In summary, it is always positive to see the dividend being increased, and we are particularly pleased with its overall sustainability. The distributions are easily covered by earnings, and there is plenty of cash being generated as well. We should point out that the earnings are expected to fall over the next 12 months, which won't be a problem if this doesn't become a trend, but could cause some turbulence in the next year. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. Earnings growth generally bodes well for the future value of company dividend payments. See if the 9 Healthcare Services Group analysts we track are forecasting continued growth with our free report on analyst estimates for the company. 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. 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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