What To Know Before Buying United Bankshares Inc (NASDAQ:UBSI) For Its Dividend
Over the past 10 years United Bankshares Inc (NASDAQ:UBSI) has been paying dividends to shareholders. The stock currently pays out a dividend yield of 4.0%, and has a market cap of US$3.5b. Does United Bankshares tick all the boxes of a great dividend stock? Below, I’ll take you through my analysis.
Check out our latest analysis for United Bankshares
5 questions to ask before buying a dividend stock
Whenever I am looking at a potential dividend stock investment, I always check these five metrics:
Is their annual yield among the top 25% of dividend payers?
Has it paid dividend every year without dramatically reducing payout in the past?
Has dividend per share risen in the past couple of years?
Can it afford to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings?
Will the company be able to keep paying dividend based on the future earnings growth?
How well does United Bankshares fit our criteria?
The company currently pays out 68% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, which means that the dividend is covered by earnings. In the near future, analysts are predicting lower payout ratio of 55%, leading to a dividend yield of 4.0%. However, EPS should increase to $2.51, meaning that the lower payout ratio does not necessarily implicate a lower dividend payment.
When assessing the forecast sustainability of a dividend it is also worth considering the cash flow of the business. A business with strong cash flow can sustain a higher divided payout ratio than a company with weak cash flow.
Reliablity is an important factor for dividend stocks, particularly for income investors who want a strong track record of payment and a positive outlook for future payout. UBSI has increased its DPS from $1.16 to $1.36 in the past 10 years. It has also been paying out dividend consistently during this time, as you’d expect for a company increasing its dividend levels. These are all positive signs of a great, reliable dividend stock.
Relative to peers, United Bankshares generates a yield of 4.0%, which is high for Banks stocks.
Next Steps:
Keeping in mind the dividend characteristics above, United Bankshares is definitely worth considering for investors looking to build a dedicated income portfolio. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, I recommend taking sufficient time to understand its core business and determine whether the company and its investment properties suit your overall goals. Below, I’ve compiled three relevant aspects you should look at:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for UBSI’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for UBSI’s outlook.
Valuation: What is UBSI worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it’s not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether UBSI is currently mispriced by the market.
Other Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
