Should You Buy Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NASDAQ:AUB) For Its Upcoming Dividend In 4 Days?
Readers hoping to buy Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NASDAQ:AUB) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. If you purchase the stock on or after the 7th of November, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 22nd of November.
Atlantic Union Bankshares's upcoming dividend is US$0.3 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$1.0 per share to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Atlantic Union Bankshares has a trailing yield of 2.7% on the current share price of $37.53. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Atlantic Union Bankshares's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to investigate whether Atlantic Union Bankshares can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
View our latest analysis for Atlantic Union Bankshares
Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Fortunately Atlantic Union Bankshares's payout ratio is modest, at just 40% of profit.
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.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. 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, Atlantic Union Bankshares's earnings per share have been growing at 12% 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. Since the start of our data, ten years ago, Atlantic Union Bankshares has lifted its dividend by approximately 3.1% a year on average. It's good to see both earnings and the dividend have improved - although the former has been rising much quicker than the latter, possibly due to the company reinvesting more of its profits in growth.
The Bottom Line
Should investors buy Atlantic Union Bankshares for the upcoming dividend? Companies like Atlantic Union Bankshares that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings, are usually reinvesting heavily in their business. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. Overall, Atlantic Union Bankshares looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.
Ever wonder what the future holds for Atlantic Union Bankshares? See what the five analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting 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.
