The board of Village Super Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:VLGE.A) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 23rd of January, with investors receiving $0.25 per share. The dividend yield will be 3.1% based on this payment which is still above the industry average.

Village Super Market's Future Dividend Projections Appear Well Covered By Earnings

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. However, prior to this announcement, Village Super Market's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.

Over the next year, EPS could expand by 17.4% if recent trends continue. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 25% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

Village Super Market Has A Solid Track Record

The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. The last annual payment of $1.00 was flat on the annual payment from10 years ago. Dividends have grown relatively slowly, which is not great, but some investors may value the relative consistency of the dividend.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. It's encouraging to see that Village Super Market has been growing its earnings per share at 17% a year over the past five years. A low payout ratio and decent growth suggests that the company is reinvesting well, and it also has plenty of room to increase the dividend over time.

Village Super Market Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

In summary, it is good to see that the dividend is staying consistent, and we don't think there is any reason to suspect this might change over the medium term. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

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. Is Village Super Market not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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.