Yahoo Finance WesBanco's (NASDAQ:WSBC) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's
The board of WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) has announced that it will be paying its dividend of $0.35 on the 1st of April, an increased payment from last year's comparable dividend. This will take the annual payment to 3.8% of the stock price, which is above what most companies in the industry pay.
View our latest analysis for WesBanco
WesBanco's Earnings Will Easily Cover The Distributions
A big dividend yield for a few years doesn't mean much if it can't be sustained.
WesBanco has established itself as a dividend paying company with over 10 years history of distributing earnings to shareholders. Based on WesBanco's last earnings report, the payout ratio is at a decent 45%, meaning that the company is able to pay out its dividend with a bit of room to spare.
Over the next 3 years, EPS is forecast to expand by 14.3%. Analysts estimate the future payout ratio will be 43% over the same time period, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.
WesBanco Has A Solid Track Record
The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. Since 2013, the annual payment back then was $0.68, compared to the most recent full-year payment of $1.40. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 7.5% over that duration. Companies like this can be very valuable over the long term, if the decent rate of growth can be maintained.
We Could See WesBanco's Dividend Growing
The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. We are encouraged to see that WesBanco has grown earnings per share at 7.4% per year over the past five years. Earnings are on the uptrend, and it is only paying a small portion of those earnings to shareholders.
We Really Like WesBanco's Dividend
Overall, we think this could be an attractive income stock, and it is only getting better by paying a higher dividend this year. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.
Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For example, we've picked out 1 warning sign for WesBanco that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated 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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