Yahoo Finance The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) Looks Interesting, And It's About To Pay A Dividend
It looks like The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) is about to go ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. Therefore, if you purchase Hartford Financial Services Group's shares on or after the 30th of November, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 4th of January.
The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.42 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$1.70 per share to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Hartford Financial Services Group has a trailing yield of approximately 2.2% on its current stock price of $75.97. 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 check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
See our latest analysis for Hartford Financial Services Group
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Fortunately Hartford Financial Services Group's payout ratio is modest, at just 26% of profit.
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 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 earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. It's encouraging to see Hartford Financial Services Group has grown its earnings rapidly, up 31% 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, Hartford Financial Services Group has increased its dividend at approximately 16% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.
Final Takeaway
Is Hartford Financial Services Group worth buying for its dividend? Typically, companies that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings are keeping the profits for reinvestment in the business. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. Hartford Financial Services Group ticks a lot of boxes for us from a dividend perspective, and we think these characteristics should mark the company as deserving of further attention.
Ever wonder what the future holds for Hartford Financial Services Group? See what the 14 analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
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.
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