Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 days time. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 1st of August will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 9th of August.
Bank of Marin Bancorp’s next dividend payment will be US$0.21 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.84 per share. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Bank of Marin Bancorp has a trailing yield of approximately 1.9% on its current stock price of $43.97. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to investigate whether Bank of Marin Bancorp can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
See our latest analysis for Bank of Marin Bancorp
Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Bank of Marin Bancorp paid out a comfortable 30% of its profit last year.
When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.
Click here to see the company’s payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
NasdaqCM:BMRC Historical Dividend Yield, July 27th 2019
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Fortunately for readers, Bank of Marin Bancorp’s earnings per share have been growing at 14% 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 Marin Bancorp has delivered an average of 12% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.
To Sum It Up
Has Bank of Marin Bancorp got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Typically, companies that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings are keeping the profits for reinvestment in the 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 Marin Bancorp 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.
Ever wonder what the future holds for Bank of Marin Bancorp? See what the six analysts we track 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.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
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. Thank you for reading.