Yahoo Finance Here's What We Like About Atlantic Union Bankshares' (NASDAQ:AUB) Upcoming Dividend
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NASDAQ:AUB) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. 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. In other words, investors can purchase Atlantic Union Bankshares' shares before the 19th of May in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 3rd of June.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.28 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$1.12 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Atlantic Union Bankshares has a trailing yield of 3.3% on the current share price of $34.18. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Atlantic Union Bankshares's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
View our latest analysis for Atlantic Union Bankshares
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Atlantic Union Bankshares paid out a comfortable 36% of its profit last year.
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 the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
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. For this reason, we're glad to see Atlantic Union Bankshares's earnings per share have risen 13% per annum over the last 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, Atlantic Union Bankshares has increased its dividend at approximately 15% a year on average. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.
The Bottom Line
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Atlantic Union Bankshares? 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. This strategy can add significant value to shareholders over the long term - as long as it's done without issuing too many new shares. Atlantic Union Bankshares 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 Atlantic Union Bankshares? See what the four analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top 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.
