Why You Might Be Interested In First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) For Its Upcoming Dividend

It looks like First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) is about to go 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 First Financial Bancorp's shares before the 28th of February in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 15th of March.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.23 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$0.92 per share. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, First Financial Bancorp has a trailing yield of approximately 3.7% on its current stock price of $25.09. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether First Financial Bancorp's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

See our latest analysis for First Financial Bancorp

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. That's why it's good to see First Financial Bancorp paying out a modest 43% of its earnings.

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?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. 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 First Financial Bancorp's earnings per share have risen 12% 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. First Financial Bancorp has delivered an average of 6.7% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. 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

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid First Financial Bancorp? When companies are growing rapidly and retaining a majority of the profits within the business, it's usually a sign that reinvesting earnings creates more value than paying dividends to shareholders. This strategy can add significant value to shareholders over the long term - as long as it's done without issuing too many new shares. In summary, First Financial Bancorp appears to have some promise as a dividend stock, and we'd suggest taking a closer look at it.

With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. For example, First Financial Bancorp has 2 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

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.