Enterprise Bancorp (NASDAQ:EBTC) Is Increasing Its Dividend To US$0.20

Enterprise Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBTC) has announced that it will be increasing its dividend on the 1st of March to US$0.20. Although the dividend is now higher, the yield is only 1.8%, which is below the industry average.

View our latest analysis for Enterprise Bancorp

Enterprise Bancorp's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

It would be nice for the yield to be higher, but we should also check if higher levels of dividend payment would be sustainable. However, prior to this announcement, Enterprise Bancorp's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.

Over the next year, EPS could expand by 14.8% if recent trends continue. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the payout ratio could be 20% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

Enterprise Bancorp Has A Solid Track Record

The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. Since 2012, the first annual payment was US$0.42, compared to the most recent full-year payment of US$0.82. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.9% a year over that time. The growth of the dividend has been pretty reliable, so we think this can offer investors some nice additional income in their portfolio.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Enterprise Bancorp has impressed us by growing EPS at 15% per year over the past five years. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Enterprise Bancorp's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.

We Really Like Enterprise Bancorp's Dividend

Overall, we think this could be an attractive income stock, and it is only getting better by paying a higher dividend this year. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. You can also discover whether shareholders are aligned with insider interests by checking our visualisation of insider shareholdings and trades in Enterprise Bancorp stock. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of strong dividend payers.

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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.