Be Sure To Check Out Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBNC) is about to go ex-dividend in just 4 days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 1st of October, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 16th of October.
Horizon Bancorp's next dividend payment will be US$0.12 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.48 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Horizon Bancorp has a trailing yield of 5.0% on the current stock price of $9.59. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Horizon Bancorp's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to investigate whether Horizon Bancorp can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
Check out our latest analysis for Horizon Bancorp
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately Horizon Bancorp's payout ratio is modest, at just 33% of profit.
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?
Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. Fortunately for readers, Horizon Bancorp's earnings per share have been growing at 11% a year for the past five years.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the last 10 years, Horizon Bancorp has lifted its dividend by approximately 14% a year on average. It's great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.
The Bottom Line
Is Horizon Bancorp an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Companies like Horizon Bancorp that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings, are usually reinvesting heavily in their business. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. Overall, Horizon Bancorp looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.
In light of that, while Horizon Bancorp has an appealing dividend, it's worth knowing the risks involved with this stock. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with Horizon Bancorp and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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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