Should Income Investors Look At Ames National Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLO) Before Its Ex-Dividend?
It looks like Ames National Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLO) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 29th of October, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 13th of November.
Ames National's upcoming dividend is US$0.25 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$1.00 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Ames National has a trailing yield of 5.0% on the current stock price of $19.88. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. As a result, readers should always check whether Ames National has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
See our latest analysis for Ames National
Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Ames National is paying out an acceptable 51% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies.
When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.
Click here to see how much of its profit Ames National paid out over the last 12 months.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Ames National, with earnings per share up 3.6% on average over the last five years.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Ames National has delivered 9.6% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.
Final Takeaway
Has Ames National got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Earnings per share have been growing at a reasonable rate, and the company is paying out a bit over half its earnings as dividends. At best we would put it on a watch-list to see if business conditions improve, as it doesn't look like a clear opportunity right now.
Want to learn more about Ames National? Here's a visualisation of its historical rate of revenue and earnings growth.
If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
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. 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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