Yahoo Finance Be Sure To Check Out Univest Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:UVSP) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend
It looks like Univest Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:UVSP) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Therefore, if you purchase Univest Financial's shares on or after the 10th of May, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 25th of May.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.21 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.84 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Univest Financial stock has a trailing yield of around 3.2% on the current share price of $26.06. 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 Univest Financial
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Fortunately Univest Financial's payout ratio is modest, at just 30% of profit.
Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. That's why it's comforting to see Univest Financial's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 26% per annum for the past five years.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Univest Financial's dividend payments are broadly unchanged compared to where they were 10 years ago.
To Sum It Up
Has Univest Financial got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Typically, companies that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings are keeping the profits for reinvestment in the business. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. Univest Financial ticks a lot of boxes for us from a dividend perspective, and we think these characteristics should mark the company as deserving of further attention.
Wondering what the future holds for Univest Financial? See what the four analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full 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.
