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The board of Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) (NASDAQ:NFBK) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.13 per share on the 23rd of August. This makes the dividend yield 4.2%, which will augment investor returns quite nicely.
See our latest analysis for Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)
Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)'s Earnings Will Easily Cover The Distributions
While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable.
Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) has a long history of paying out dividends, with its current track record at a minimum of 10 years. Past distributions do not necessarily guarantee future ones, but Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)'s payout ratio of 45% is a good sign as this means that earnings decently cover dividends.
Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 18.7%. But if the dividend continues along the path it has been on recently, we estimate the future payout ratio could be 61%, which would be comfortable for the company to continue in the future.
Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) Has A Solid Track Record
The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. Since 2013, the dividend has gone from $0.24 total annually to $0.52. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 8.0% over that duration. Dividends have grown at a reasonable rate over this period, and without any major cuts in the payment over time, we think this is an attractive combination as it provides a nice boost to shareholder returns.
The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow
Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) has impressed us by growing EPS at 14% per year over the past five years. Shareholders are getting plenty of the earnings returned to them, which combined with strong growth makes this quite appealing.
We Really Like Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)'s Dividend
Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. The distributions are easily covered by earnings, and there is plenty of cash being generated as well. However, it is worth noting that the earnings are expected to fall over the next year, which may not change the long term outlook, but could affect the dividend payment in the next 12 months. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.