In This Article:
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 Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) is about to go ex-dividend in just four days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date, which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves a full business day. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Thus, you can purchase Flushing Financial's shares before the 14th of March in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 28th of March.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.22 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.88 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Flushing Financial has a trailing yield of 6.5% on the current stock price of US$13.54. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Flushing Financial
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. Flushing Financial's dividend is not well covered by earnings, as the company lost money last year. This is not a sustainable state of affairs, so it would be worth investigating if earnings are expected to recover.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Flushing Financial was unprofitable last year and, unfortunately, the general trend suggests its earnings have been in decline over the last five years, making us wonder if the dividend is sustainable at all.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, Flushing Financial has lifted its dividend by approximately 3.9% a year on average.
Get our latest analysis on Flushing Financial's balance sheet health here.
The Bottom Line
Is Flushing Financial worth buying for its dividend? First, it's not great to see the company paying a dividend despite being loss-making over the last year. Worse, the general trend in its earnings looks negative in recent years. These characteristics don't generally lead to outstanding dividend performance, and investors may not be happy with the results of owning this stock for its dividend.
