Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Will Pay A Dividend Of US$0.24

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) will pay a dividend of US$0.24 on the 25th of July. This payment means that the dividend yield will be 3.2%, which is around the industry average.

Check out our latest analysis for Dime Community Bancshares

Dime Community Bancshares' Earnings Easily Cover the Distributions

We aren't too impressed by dividend yields unless they can be sustained over time. However, Dime Community Bancshares' earnings easily cover the dividend. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 6.8%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 25%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.

Dime Community Bancshares Has A Solid Track Record

The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. Since 2012, the first annual payment was US$0.86, compared to the most recent full-year payment of US$0.96. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 1.1% over that duration. Dividends have grown relatively slowly, which is not great, but some investors may value the relative consistency of the dividend.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. We are encouraged to see that Dime Community Bancshares has grown earnings per share at 22% per year over the past five years. Earnings per share is growing at a solid clip, and the payout ratio is low which we think is an ideal combination in a dividend stock as the company can quite easily raise the dividend in the future.

Dime Community Bancshares Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. The earnings easily cover the company's distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. We should point out that the earnings are expected to fall over the next 12 months, which won't be a problem if this doesn't become a trend, but could cause some turbulence in the next year. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income stock.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 5 analysts we track are forecasting for Dime Community Bancshares for free with public analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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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.