Board of Directors prosperous bank co., ltd. (NYSE: PB) announced that its dividend will be increased to $0.60 on January 2, which is 3.4% higher than the $0.58 paid a year ago. Based on this payment, the company’s dividend yield will be 3.3%, which is fairly typical in the industry.
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We’re not too interested in dividend yields unless they are sustainable over time.
Prosperity Bancshares has become a dividend-paying company, with a history of distributing earnings to shareholders for over 10 years. Past distributions don’t necessarily guarantee future distributions, but Prosperity Bancshares’s 41% payout ratio is a good sign, since it means earnings were enough to cover the dividend.
Over the next three years, earnings per share are expected to grow by 29.8%. Analysts predict that the future payout ratio over the same time period may be 36%, and we think the company can maintain this number.
See our latest analysis for Prosperity Bank shares
The company has a long history of paying consistent dividends. The annual payment for the past 10 years was $1.09 in 2015 and the payment for the most recent fiscal year was $2.32. This means that its distributions have grown at a rate of 7.8% per year during this period. The dividend has grown at a reasonable rate over this period and the payments haven’t seen any significant cuts over time, which we think is an attractive combination as it provides a good boost to shareholder returns.
Some investors will be eager to buy some shares of the company based on its dividend history. Unfortunately, Prosperity Bancshares’ earnings per share have been essentially flat over the past five years, which means the dividend probably won’t grow every year. The company is growing at a slow 1.4% per year and paying out quite a bit of earnings to shareholders. While this isn’t necessarily a negative, it certainly suggests that future dividend growth may be limited unless earnings start to pick up again.
All in all, it’s always positive to see a dividend increase, and we’re particularly pleased with its overall sustainability. Distributions are easily covered by earnings, which are also converted into cash flow. With all this in mind, this looks like it could be a great dividend opportunity.