Advertisement
U.S. markets open in 52 minutes
  • S&P Futures

    5,306.00
    -2.25 (-0.04%)
     
  • Dow Futures

    40,152.00
    +8.00 (+0.02%)
     
  • Nasdaq Futures

    18,495.25
    -8.50 (-0.05%)
     
  • Russell 2000 Futures

    2,138.30
    -0.10 (-0.00%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    82.61
    +1.26 (+1.55%)
     
  • Gold

    2,231.70
    +19.00 (+0.86%)
     
  • Silver

    24.67
    -0.08 (-0.31%)
     
  • EUR/USD

    1.0794
    -0.0035 (-0.32%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2320
    +0.0360 (+0.86%)
     
  • Vix

    13.00
    +0.22 (+1.72%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2624
    -0.0014 (-0.11%)
     
  • USD/JPY

    151.2950
    +0.0490 (+0.03%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    70,373.27
    +174.81 (+0.25%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,950.42
    +18.44 (+0.23%)
     
  • Nikkei 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     

Why Summit Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMMF) Is A Top Dividend Stock

Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card!

Could Summit Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMMF) be an attractive dividend share to own for the long haul? Investors are often drawn to strong companies with the idea of reinvesting the dividends. Unfortunately, it's common for investors to be enticed in by the seemingly attractive yield, and lose money when the company has to cut its dividend payments.

With a 2.3% yield and a four-year payment history, investors probably think Summit Financial Group looks like a reliable dividend stock. While the yield may not look too great, the relatively long payment history is interesting. The company also bought back stock during the year, equivalent to approximately 1.3% of the company's market capitalisation at the time. Before you buy any stock for its dividend however, you should always remember Warren Buffett's two rules: 1) Don't lose money, and 2) Remember rule #1. We'll run through some checks below to help with this.

Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis

NasdaqCM:SMMF Historical Dividend Yield, June 14th 2019
NasdaqCM:SMMF Historical Dividend Yield, June 14th 2019

Payout ratios

Companies (usually) pay dividends out of their earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, the dividend might have to be cut. As a result, we should always investigate whether a company can afford its dividend, measured as a percentage of a company's net income after tax. In the last year, Summit Financial Group paid out 24% of its profit as dividends. Given the low payout ratio, it is hard to envision the dividend coming under threat, barring a catastrophe.

We update our data on Summit Financial Group every 24 hours, so you can always get our latest analysis of its financial health, here.

Dividend Volatility

From the perspective of an income investor who wants to earn dividends for many years, there is not much point buying a stock if its dividend is regularly cut or is not reliable. Summit Financial Group has been paying a dividend for the past four years. The company has been paying a stable dividend for a few years now, but we'd like to see more evidence of consistency over a longer period. During the past four-year period, the first annual payment was US$0.32 in 2015, compared to US$0.60 last year. Dividends per share have grown at approximately 17% per year over this time.

The dividend has been growing pretty quickly, which could be enough to get us interested even though the dividend history is relatively short. Further research may be warranted.

Dividend Growth Potential

The other half of the dividend investing equation is evaluating whether earnings per share (EPS) are growing. Over the long term, dividends need to grow at or above the rate of inflation, in order to maintain the recipient's purchasing power. It's good to see Summit Financial Group has been growing its earnings per share at 18% a year over the past 5 years. Earnings per share are growing at a solid clip, and the payout ratio is low. We think this is an ideal combination in a dividend stock.

Conclusion

To summarise, shareholders should always check that Summit Financial Group's dividends are affordable, that its dividend payments are relatively stable, and that it has decent prospects for growing its earnings and dividend. Firstly, we like that Summit Financial Group has a low and conservative payout ratio. We were also glad to see it growing earnings, although its dividend history is not as long as we'd like. Overall we think Summit Financial Group is an interesting dividend stock, although it could be better.

You can also discover whether shareholders are aligned with insider interests by checking our visualisation of insider shareholdings and trades in Summit Financial Group stock.

Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of dividend stocks with a yield above 3%.

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.

Advertisement