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Citizens Holding (NASDAQ:CIZN) Will Pay A Dividend Of $0.24

The board of Citizens Holding Company (NASDAQ:CIZN) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 30th of September, with investors receiving $0.24 per share. Based on this payment, the dividend yield on the company's stock will be 5.5%, which is an attractive boost to shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for Citizens Holding

Citizens Holding's Payment Expected To Have Solid Earnings Coverage

Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained.

Having distributed dividends for at least 10 years, Citizens Holding has a long history of paying out a part of its earnings to shareholders. Based on Citizens Holding's last earnings report, the payout ratio is at a decent 65%, meaning that the company is able to pay out its dividend with a bit of room to spare.

If the trend of the last few years continues, EPS will grow by 1.5% over the next 12 months. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the future payout ratio will be 64%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

historic-dividend
historic-dividend

Citizens Holding Has A Solid Track Record

The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. Since 2012, the annual payment back then was $0.88, compared to the most recent full-year payment of $0.96. Its dividends have grown at less than 1% per annum over this time frame. While the consistency in the dividend payments is impressive, we think the relatively slow rate of growth is less attractive.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. Citizens Holding hasn't seen much change in its earnings per share over the last five years. Growth of 1.5% per annum is not particularly high, which might explain why the company is paying out a higher proportion of earnings. This isn't bad in itself, but unless earnings growth pick up we wouldn't expect dividends to grow either.

Citizens Holding Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

In summary, it is good to see that the dividend is staying consistent, and we don't think there is any reason to suspect this might change over the medium term. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Citizens Holding that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. Is Citizens Holding not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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