The board of Ennis, Inc. (NYSE:EBF) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 1st of February, with investors receiving $0.25 per share. Based on this payment, the dividend yield on the company's stock will be 4.6%, which is an attractive boost to shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Ennis

Ennis' Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions

Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained. The last dividend was quite easily covered by Ennis' earnings. This means that a large portion of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.

Looking forward, earnings per share could rise by 3.4% over the next year if the trend from the last few years continues. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 58% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

Ennis Has A Solid Track Record

The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. The dividend has gone from an annual total of $0.70 in 2013 to the most recent total annual payment of $1.00. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 3.6% a year over that time. Dividends have grown relatively slowly, which is not great, but some investors may value the relative consistency of the dividend.

Ennis May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Earnings per share has been crawling upwards at 3.4% per year. Ennis is struggling to find viable investments, so it is returning more to shareholders. While this isn't necessarily a negative, it definitely signals that dividend growth could be constrained in the future unless earnings start to pick up again.

Ennis Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, we like to see the dividend staying consistent, and we think Ennis might even raise payments in the future. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.

It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. Now, if you want to look closer, it would be worth checking out our free research on Ennis management tenure, salary, and performance. Is Ennis not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.