Just Three Days Till Nidaros Sparebank (OB:NISB) Will Be Trading Ex-Dividend

Nidaros Sparebank (OB:NISB) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next three days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Therefore, if you purchase Nidaros Sparebank's shares on or after the 25th of March, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 4th of April.

The company's next dividend payment will be kr5.86 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of kr5.86 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Nidaros Sparebank stock has a trailing yield of around 4.5% on the current share price of NOK131. 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! We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

View our latest analysis for Nidaros Sparebank

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Last year Nidaros Sparebank paid out 93% of its profits as dividends to shareholders, suggesting the dividend is not well covered by earnings. Nidaros Sparebank paid a dividend despite reporting negative free cash flow over the last twelve months. This may be due to heavy investment in the business, but this is still suboptimal from a dividend sustainability perspective.

When a company pays out a dividend that is not well covered by profits, the dividend is generally seen as more vulnerable to being cut.

Click here to see how much of its profit Nidaros Sparebank paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Nidaros Sparebank's earnings per share have plummeted approximately 35% a year over the previous five years.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Nidaros Sparebank has delivered 3.1% dividend growth per year on average over the past two years. The only way to pay higher dividends when earnings are shrinking is either to pay out a larger percentage of profits, spend cash from the balance sheet, or borrow the money. Nidaros Sparebank is already paying out 93% of its profits, and with shrinking earnings we think it's unlikely that this dividend will grow quickly in the future.

To Sum It Up

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Nidaros Sparebank? Not only are earnings per share shrinking, but Nidaros Sparebank is paying out a disconcertingly high percentage of its profit as dividends. Generally we think dividend investors should avoid businesses in this situation, as high payout ratios and declining earnings can lead to the dividend being cut. These characteristics don't generally lead to outstanding dividend performance, and investors may not be happy with the results of owning this stock for its dividend.

Having said that, if you're looking at this stock without much concern for the dividend, you should still be familiar of the risks involved with Nidaros Sparebank. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Nidaros Sparebank that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.

If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.

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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.