Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Is Paying Out A Larger Dividend Than Last Year
The board of Alerus Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ALRS) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend by 13% on the 8th of July to US$0.18. The announced payment will take the dividend yield to 2.6%, which is in line with the average for the industry.
View our latest analysis for Alerus Financial
Alerus Financial's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage
While it is always good to see a solid dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is feasible. However, Alerus Financial's earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of its earnings are being retained to grow the business.
EPS is set to fall by 10.4% over the next 12 months. If the dividend continues along the path it has been on recently, we estimate the payout ratio could be 29%, which is comfortable for the company to continue in the future.
Alerus Financial Has A Solid Track Record
The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. The dividend has gone from US$0.30 in 2012 to the most recent annual payment of US$0.64. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 8.0% per annum over that time. 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
Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. It's encouraging to see Alerus Financial has been growing its earnings per share at 18% a year over the past five years. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Alerus Financial's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.
We Really Like Alerus Financial's Dividend
Overall, a dividend increase is always good, and we think that Alerus Financial is a strong income stock thanks to its track record and growing earnings. The earnings easily cover the company's distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. If earnings do fall over the next 12 months, the dividend could be buffeted a little bit, but we don't think it should cause too much of a problem in the long term. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.
Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Earnings growth generally bodes well for the future value of company dividend payments. See if the 4 Alerus Financial analysts we track are forecasting continued growth with our free report on analyst estimates for the company. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.
