F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE:FNB) Looks Interesting, And It's About To Pay A Dividend

It looks like F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE:FNB) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 2 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Therefore, if you purchase F.N.B's shares on or after the 2nd of December, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 15th of December.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.12 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.48 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that F.N.B has a trailing yield of 3.5% on the current share price of $13.77. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether F.N.B's dividend is reliable and sustainable. As a result, readers should always check whether F.N.B has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for F.N.B

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Fortunately F.N.B's payout ratio is modest, at just 42% 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 earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at F.N.B, with earnings per share up 7.1% on average 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. It looks like the F.N.B dividends are largely the same as they were 10 years ago.

Final Takeaway

Has F.N.B got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? F.N.B has seen its earnings per share grow slowly in recent years, and the company reinvests more than half of its profits in the business, which generally bodes well for its future prospects. F.N.B 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.

With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. For example - F.N.B has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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