Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Looks Like A Good Stock, And It's Going Ex-Dividend Soon

It looks like Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 28th of February, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 16th of March.

Stifel Financial's next dividend payment will be US$0.17 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.68 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Stifel Financial has a trailing yield of 1.0% on the current stock price of $66.71. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to investigate whether Stifel Financial can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

See our latest analysis for Stifel Financial

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Stifel Financial has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 10% of its income after tax.

Companies that pay out less in dividends than they earn in profits generally have more sustainable dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more wiggle room the business has before it could be forced to cut the dividend.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. For this reason, we're glad to see Stifel Financial's earnings per share have risen 17% 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. In the past three years, Stifel Financial has increased its dividend at approximately 19% a year on average. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.

Final Takeaway

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Stifel Financial? Typically, companies that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings are keeping the profits for reinvestment in the business. This is one of the most attractive investment combinations under this analysis, as it can create substantial value for investors over the long run. We think this is a pretty attractive combination, and would be interested in investigating Stifel Financial more closely.

Ever wonder what the future holds for Stifel Financial? See what the five analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow

If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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.

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. Thank you for reading.