Yahoo Finance Why You Might Be Interested In Salisbury Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAL) For Its Upcoming Dividend
Salisbury Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAL) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 3 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. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Thus, you can purchase Salisbury Bancorp's shares before the 11th of August in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 26th of August.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.16 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.64 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Salisbury Bancorp has a trailing yield of 2.8% on the current share price of $23.26. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Salisbury Bancorp's dividend is reliable and sustainable. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Salisbury Bancorp
Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Salisbury Bancorp is paying out just 24% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events.
Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.
Click here to see how much of its profit Salisbury Bancorp 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 fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Fortunately for readers, Salisbury Bancorp's earnings per share have been growing at 16% a year for the past five years.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the past 10 years, Salisbury Bancorp has increased its dividend at approximately 1.3% a year on average. Earnings per share have been growing much quicker than dividends, potentially because Salisbury Bancorp is keeping back more of its profits to grow the business.
Final Takeaway
Is Salisbury Bancorp worth buying for its dividend? When companies are growing rapidly and retaining a majority of the profits within the business, it's usually a sign that reinvesting earnings creates more value than paying dividends to shareholders. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. Overall, Salisbury Bancorp looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.
Want to learn more about Salisbury Bancorp's dividend performance? Check out this visualisation of its historical revenue and earnings growth.
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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