Here's What We Like About Peoples Bancorp's (NASDAQ:PEBO) Upcoming Dividend
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Therefore, if you purchase Peoples Bancorp's shares on or after the 3rd of February, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 21st of February.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.38 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$1.52 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Peoples Bancorp has a trailing yield of 5.2% on the current stock price of $29.28. 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 Peoples Bancorp can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
See our latest analysis for Peoples Bancorp
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. That's why it's good to see Peoples Bancorp paying out a modest 42% of its earnings.
Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
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 business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Fortunately for readers, Peoples Bancorp's earnings per share have been growing at 11% 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. In the past 10 years, Peoples Bancorp has increased its dividend at approximately 13% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.
To Sum It Up
Is Peoples Bancorp worth buying for its dividend? Companies like Peoples Bancorp 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. Overall, Peoples Bancorp 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 Peoples Bancorp? See what the five analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.
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.
Join A Paid User Research Session
You’ll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
