Centaur Media Plc (LON:CAU) has announced that it will pay a dividend of ￡0.006 per share on the 25th of October. This makes the dividend yield 7.5%, which will augment investor returns quite nicely.

While the dividend yield is important for income investors, it is also important to consider any large share price moves, as this will generally outweigh any gains from distributions. Centaur Media's stock price has reduced by 37% in the last 3 months, which is not ideal for investors and can explain a sharp increase in the dividend yield.

See our latest analysis for Centaur Media

Centaur Media's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. Centaur Media was earning enough to cover the previous dividend, but it was paying out quite a large proportion of its free cash flows. By paying out so much of its cash flows, this could indicate that the company has limited opportunities for investment and growth.

EPS is set to fall by 9.9% over the next 12 months. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could be 56%, which we consider to be quite comfortable, with most of the company's earnings left over to grow the business in the future.

Dividend Volatility

The company's dividend history has been marked by instability, with at least one cut in the last 10 years. The last annual payment of ￡0.024 was flat on the annual payment from10 years ago. The dividend has seen some fluctuations in the past, so even though the dividend was raised this year, we should remember that it has been cut in the past.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Growing earnings per share could be a mitigating factor when considering the past fluctuations in the dividend. We are encouraged to see that Centaur Media has grown earnings per share at 81% per year over the past five years. Centaur Media is clearly able to grow rapidly while still returning cash to shareholders, positioning it to become a strong dividend payer in the future.

Our Thoughts On Centaur Media's Dividend

In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about Centaur Media's payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. The company hasn't been paying a very consistent dividend over time, despite only paying out a small portion of earnings. We don't think Centaur Media is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.

It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Centaur Media (of which 1 doesn't sit too well with us!) you should know about. Is Centaur Media not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.