Flushing Financial (NASDAQ:FFIC) Will Pay A Dividend Of $0.22

Flushing Financial Corporation's (NASDAQ:FFIC) investors are due to receive a payment of $0.22 per share on 29th of September. This means the annual payment is 6.0% of the current stock price, which is above the average for the industry.

See our latest analysis for Flushing Financial

Flushing Financial's Earnings Will Easily Cover The Distributions

Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained.

Flushing Financial has established itself as a dividend paying company with over 10 years history of distributing earnings to shareholders. Taking data from its last earnings report, calculating for the company's payout ratio shows 56%, which means that Flushing Financial would be able to pay its last dividend without pressure on the balance sheet.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to fall by 28.7% over the next year. However, if the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the future payout ratio could reach 79%, meaning that most of the company's earnings are being paid out to shareholders.

Flushing Financial Has A Solid Track Record

The company has been paying a dividend for a long time, and it has been quite stable which gives us confidence in the future dividend potential. Since 2013, the annual payment back then was $0.52, compared to the most recent full-year payment of $0.88. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 5.4% 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's Growth Prospects Are Limited

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. However, Flushing Financial has only grown its earnings per share at 2.8% per annum over the past five years. Growth of 2.8% may indicate that the company has limited investment opportunity so it is returning its earnings to shareholders instead. This could mean the dividend doesn't have the growth potential we look for going into the future.

Our Thoughts On Flushing Financial's Dividend

Overall, it's nice to see a consistent dividend payment, but we think that longer term, the current level of payment might be unsustainable. The company hasn't been paying a very consistent dividend over time, despite only paying out a small portion of earnings. This company is not in the top tier of income providing stocks.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. As an example, we've identified 1 warning sign for Flushing Financial that you should be aware of before investing. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield 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.