C&F Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CFFI) Looks Interesting, And It's About To Pay A Dividend
It looks like C&F Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CFFI) is about to go ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Accordingly, C&F Financial investors that purchase the stock on or after the 14th of September will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of October.
The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.44 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$1.76 per share to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that C&F Financial has a trailing yield of 3.4% on the current share price of $52.52. 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 investigate whether C&F Financial can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
Check out our latest analysis for C&F Financial
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. C&F Financial has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 20% of its income after tax.
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 how much of its profit C&F Financial paid out over the last 12 months.
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. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. It's encouraging to see C&F Financial has grown its earnings rapidly, up 36% a year for the past five years.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. C&F Financial has delivered 4.3% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. 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.
To Sum It Up
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid C&F Financial? Companies like C&F Financial that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings, are usually reinvesting heavily in their business. This strategy can add significant value to shareholders over the long term - as long as it's done without issuing too many new shares. Overall, C&F Financial looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.
Curious about whether C&F Financial has been able to consistently generate growth? Here's a chart of its historical revenue and earnings growth.
A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
