It looks like Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 5th of March, you won’t be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 27th of March.
Bank of America’s next dividend payment will be US$0.18 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.72 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Bank of America has a trailing yield of approximately 2.5% on its current stock price of $28.5. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it’s also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn’t going to kill our golden goose! So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Bank of America
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Bank of America is paying out just 24% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events.
Companies that pay out less in dividends than they earn in profits generally have more sustainable dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more wiggle room the business has before it could be forced to cut the dividend.
Click here to see the company’s payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
NYSE:BAC Historical Dividend Yield, February 29th 2020
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it’s easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. It’s encouraging to see Bank of America has grown its earnings rapidly, up 45% a year for the past five years.
The main way most investors will assess a company’s dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Bank of America has delivered 34% dividend growth per year on average over the past ten years. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.
Final Takeaway
Should investors buy Bank of America for the upcoming dividend? Companies like Bank of America that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings, are usually reinvesting heavily in their business. This is one of the most attractive investment combinations under this analysis, as it can create substantial value for investors over the long run. Bank of America ticks a lot of boxes for us from a dividend perspective, and we think these characteristics should mark the company as deserving of further attention.
Curious what other investors think of Bank of America? See what analysts are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow.
If you’re in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
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