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Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ:BMRC) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four 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 an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. Thus, you can purchase Bank of Marin Bancorp's shares before the 5th of May in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 13th of May.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.24 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.96 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Bank of Marin Bancorp has a trailing yield of 3.1% on the current stock price of $31.26. 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 check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.
View our latest analysis for Bank of Marin Bancorp
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Bank of Marin Bancorp paid out a comfortable 41% of its profit last year.
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?
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. This is why it's a relief to see Bank of Marin Bancorp earnings per share are up 2.7% 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. Bank of Marin Bancorp has delivered an average of 11% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.