First of Long Island's (NASDAQ:FLIC) Upcoming Dividend Will Be Larger Than Last Year's

The First of Long Island Corporation (NASDAQ:FLIC) will increase its dividend on the 21st of October to $0.21, which is 5.0% higher than last year's payment from the same period of $0.20. This will take the dividend yield to an attractive 4.5%, providing a nice boost to shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for First of Long Island

First of Long Island's Dividend Forecasted To Be Well Covered By Earnings

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

First of Long Island 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 41%, which means that First of Long Island would be able to pay its last dividend without pressure on the balance sheet.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 0.2% over the next year. If the dividend continues on this path, the future payout ratio could be 44% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.

First of Long Island Has A Solid Track Record

Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. The dividend has gone from an annual total of $0.409 in 2012 to the most recent total annual payment of $0.80. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 6.9% over that duration. The dividend has been growing very nicely for a number of years, and has given its shareholders some nice income in their portfolios.

We Could See First of Long Island's Dividend Growing

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. We are encouraged to see that First of Long Island has grown earnings per share at 6.9% per year over the past five years. Earnings are on the uptrend, and it is only paying a small portion of those earnings to shareholders.

First of Long Island Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, a dividend increase is always good, and we think that First of Long Island is a strong income stock thanks to its track record and growing earnings. The company is easily earning enough to cover its dividend payments and it is great to see that these earnings are being translated into cash flow. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. As an example, we've identified 1 warning sign for First of Long Island that you should be aware of before investing. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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