Yahoo Finance Why You Might Be Interested In Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) For Its Upcoming Dividend
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 Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) is about to go ex-dividend in just 4 days. You can purchase shares before the 14th of May in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 31st of May.
Heartland Financial USA's next dividend payment will be US$0.22 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.88 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Heartland Financial USA has a trailing yield of 1.7% on the current share price of $50.39. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! So we need to investigate whether Heartland Financial USA can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
View our latest analysis for Heartland Financial USA
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. Heartland Financial USA paid out just 19% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances.
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. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. This is why it's a relief to see Heartland Financial USA earnings per share are up 8.2% per annum over the last five years.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Heartland Financial USA has delivered 8.2% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.
Final Takeaway
Should investors buy Heartland Financial USA for the upcoming dividend? It has been growing its earnings per share somewhat in recent years, although it reinvests more than half its earnings in the business, which could suggest there are some growth projects that have not yet reached fruition. Heartland Financial USA 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.
On that note, you'll want to research what risks Heartland Financial USA is facing. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Heartland Financial USA (including 1 which is significant).
We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
