The board of ECN Capital Corp. (TSE:ECN) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.01 per share on the 19th of April. The dividend yield is 2.2% based on this payment, which is a little bit low compared to the other companies in the industry.

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. ECN Capital's stock price has reduced by 36% in the last 3 months, which is not ideal for investors and can explain a sharp increase in the dividend yield.

Check out our latest analysis for ECN Capital

ECN Capital's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

If it is predictable over a long period, even low dividend yields can be attractive. Even though ECN Capital is not generating a profit, it is still paying a dividend. The company is also yet to generate cash flow, so the dividend sustainability is definitely questionable.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise exponentially over the next year. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio will be 0.9%, which makes us pretty comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

ECN Capital Doesn't Have A Long Payment History

It is great to see that ECN Capital has been paying a stable dividend for a number of years now, however we want to be a bit cautious about whether this will remain true through a full economic cycle. Since 2017, the dividend has gone from $0.0295 total annually to $0.0291. The dividend has shrunk at a rate of less than 1% a year over this period. Generally, we don't like to see a dividend that has been declining over time as this can degrade shareholders' returns and indicate that the company may be running into problems.

Dividend Growth Potential Is Shaky

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. However, initial appearances might be deceiving. ECN Capital's earnings per share has shrunk at 39% a year over the past five years. This steep decline can indicate that the business is going through a tough time, which could constrain its ability to pay a larger dividend each year in the future. It's not all bad news though, as the earnings are predicted to rise over the next 12 months - we would just be a bit cautious until this becomes a long term trend.

An additional note is that the company has been raising capital by issuing stock equal to 14% of shares outstanding in the last 12 months. Regularly doing this can be detrimental - it's hard to grow dividends per share when new shares are regularly being created.