Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) Has Re-Affirmed Its Dividend Of US$0.15

Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) will pay a dividend of US$0.15 on the 18th of April. Based on this payment, the dividend yield on the company's stock will be 3.8%, which is an attractive boost to shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial's Earnings Easily Cover the Distributions

Impressive dividend yields are good, but this doesn't matter much if the payments can't be sustained. However, Fulton Financial's earnings easily cover the dividend. As a result, a large proportion of what it earned was being reinvested back into the business.

Over the next year, EPS is forecast to fall by 16.0%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could be 50%, which we consider to be quite comfortable, with most of the company's earnings left over to grow the business in the future.

Fulton Financial Has A Solid Track Record

The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. The first annual payment during the last 10 years was US$0.20 in 2012, and the most recent fiscal year payment was US$0.68. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 13% per annum over that time. Rapidly growing dividends for a long time is a very valuable feature for an income stock.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Fulton Financial has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 12% per annum. With a decent amount of growth and a low payout ratio, we think this bodes well for Fulton Financial's prospects of growing its dividend payments in the future.

Fulton Financial Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. The earnings easily cover the company's distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. If earnings do fall over the next 12 months, the dividend could be buffeted a little bit, but we don't think it should cause too much of a problem in the long term. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 8 analysts we track are forecasting for Fulton Financial for free with public analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection 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.