Ames National Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLO) Goes Ex-Dividend Soon

It looks like Ames National Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLO) is about to go ex-dividend in the next four days. Investors can purchase shares before the 29th of January in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 15th of February.

Ames National's next dividend payment will be US$0.25 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$1.00 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Ames National stock has a trailing yield of around 4.1% on the current share price of $24.47. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

View our latest analysis for Ames National

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. Ames National is paying out an acceptable 51% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies.

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 how much of its profit Ames National paid out over the last 12 months.

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. This is why it's a relief to see Ames National earnings per share are up 3.9% per annum over the last five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Ames National has delivered 8.6% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.

Final Takeaway

Is Ames National an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Earnings per share have been growing at a reasonable rate, and the company is paying out a bit over half its earnings as dividends. It doesn't appear an outstanding opportunity, but could be worth a closer look.

Want to learn more about Ames National? Here's a visualisation of its historical rate of revenue and earnings growth.

A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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