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It looks like Bank of South Carolina Corporation (NASDAQ:BKSC) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. Ex-dividend means that investors that purchase the stock on or after the 4th of October will not receive this dividend, which will be paid on the 31st of October.
Bank of South Carolina's next dividend payment will be US$0.3 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.6 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Bank of South Carolina has a trailing yield of approximately 3.4% on its current stock price of $18.66. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! As a result, readers should always check whether Bank of South Carolina has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.
See our latest analysis for Bank of South Carolina
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. That's why it's good to see Bank of South Carolina paying out a modest 49% of its earnings.
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 Bank of South Carolina 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. For this reason, we're glad to see Bank of South Carolina's earnings per share have risen 11% 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. Bank of South Carolina has delivered 2.9% dividend growth per year on average over the past ten years. It's good to see both earnings and the dividend have improved - although the former has been rising much quicker than the latter, possibly due to the company reinvesting more of its profits in growth.
The Bottom Line
Should investors buy Bank of South Carolina for the upcoming 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. This strategy can add significant value to shareholders over the long term - as long as it's done without issuing too many new shares. We think this is a pretty attractive combination, and would be interested in investigating Bank of South Carolina more closely.