Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited (ASX:RWC) is reducing its dividend from last year's comparable payment to $0.0346 on the 5th of April. The yield is still above the industry average at 2.6%.

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. Investors will be pleased to see that Reliance Worldwide's stock price has increased by 42% in the last 3 months, which is good for shareholders and can also explain a decrease in the dividend yield.

Check out our latest analysis for Reliance Worldwide

Reliance Worldwide's Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Prior to this announcement, Reliance Worldwide's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that a large portion of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 70.1%. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 46% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

Reliance Worldwide's Dividend Has Lacked Consistency

Reliance Worldwide has been paying dividends for a while, but the track record isn't stellar. This makes us cautious about the consistency of the dividend over a full economic cycle. The dividend has gone from an annual total of $0.0441 in 2017 to the most recent total annual payment of $0.095. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 12% a year over that time. Dividends have grown rapidly over this time, but with cuts in the past we are not certain that this stock will be a reliable source of income in the future.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Given that the dividend has been cut in the past, we need to check if earnings are growing and if that might lead to stronger dividends in the future. Reliance Worldwide has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 11% per annum. Since earnings per share is growing at an acceptable rate, and the payout policy is balanced, we think the company is positioning itself well to grow earnings and dividends in the future.

We Really Like Reliance Worldwide's Dividend

It is generally not great to see the dividend being cut, but we don't think this should happen much if at all in the future given that Reliance Worldwide has the makings of a solid income stock moving forward. The cut will allow the company to continue paying out the dividend without putting the balance sheet under pressure, which means that it could remain sustainable for longer. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.