The board of The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) has announced that it will be paying its dividend of $0.22 on the 20th of March, an increased payment from last year's comparable dividend. This takes the dividend yield to 3.5%, which shareholders will be pleased with.

Mosaic's Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Prior to this announcement, Mosaic was paying out 72% of earnings and more than 75% of free cash flows. This is usually an indication that the focus of the company is returning cash to shareholders rather than reinvesting it for growth.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 86.6% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 35%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Dividend Volatility

While the company has been paying a dividend for a long time, it has cut the dividend at least once in the last 10 years. Since 2014, the annual payment back then was $1.00, compared to the most recent full-year payment of $0.84. The dividend has shrunk at around 1.7% a year during that period. Declining dividends isn't generally what we look for as they can indicate that the company is running into some challenges.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share is growing, which could point to a growing dividend in the future. It's encouraging to see that Mosaic has been growing its earnings per share at 31% a year over the past five years. Fast growing earnings are great, but this can rarely be sustained without some reinvestment into the business, which Mosaic hasn't been doing.

In Summary

Overall, we always like to see the dividend being raised, but we don't think Mosaic will make a great income stock. The company hasn't been paying a very consistent dividend over time, despite only paying out a small portion of earnings. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.

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. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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.