ONEOK, Inc.'s (NYSE:OKE) investors are due to receive a payment of US$0.94 per share on 16th of August. This means the annual payment is 7.1% of the current stock price, which is above the average for the industry.

Check out our latest analysis for ONEOK

ONEOK Doesn't Earn Enough To Cover Its Payments

While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. Before making this announcement, the company's dividend was much higher than its earnings. It will be difficult to sustain this level of payout so we wouldn't be confident about this continuing.

The next 12 months is set to see EPS grow by 26.2%. If the dividend continues on its recent course, the payout ratio in 12 months could be 125%, which is a bit high and could start applying pressure to the balance sheet.

ONEOK Has A Solid Track Record

The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. The dividend has gone from US$0.96 in 2011 to the most recent annual payment of US$3.74. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 15% a year over that time. We can see that payments have shown some very nice upward momentum without faltering, which provides some reassurance that future payments will also be reliable.

Dividend Growth Could Be Constrained

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. ONEOK has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 15% per annum. However, the company isn't reinvesting a lot back into the business, so we would expect the growth rate to slow down somewhat in the future.

The Dividend Could Prove To Be Unreliable

In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about ONEOK's payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. In the past the payments have been stable, but we think the company is paying out too much for this to continue for the long term. We don't think ONEOK is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For example, we've picked out 2 warning signs for ONEOK 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 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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