Yahoo Finance Why You Might Be Interested In Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) For Its Upcoming Dividend
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 days time. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 7th of November will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of December.
Wells Fargo's upcoming dividend is US$0.5 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$2.0 per share to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Wells Fargo has a trailing yield of 3.9% on the current share price of $52.18. 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! That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
Check out our latest analysis for Wells Fargo
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately Wells Fargo's payout ratio is modest, at just 39% of profit.
When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Wells Fargo, with earnings per share up 3.4% on average over the last five years.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Wells Fargo has delivered 4.1% dividend growth per year on average over the past ten 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
Is Wells Fargo an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? 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. We think this is a pretty attractive combination, and would be interested in investigating Wells Fargo more closely.
Wondering what the future holds for Wells Fargo? See what the 19 analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow
A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
