Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Is Due To Pay A Dividend Of US$0.13

Heritage Commerce Corp's (NASDAQ:HTBK) investors are due to receive a payment of US$0.13 per share on 26th of May. The dividend yield will be 4.6% based on this payment which is still above the industry average.

Check out our latest analysis for Heritage Commerce

Heritage Commerce's Payment Has Solid Earnings Coverage

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable. The last dividend was quite easily covered by Heritage Commerce's earnings. This indicates that quite a large proportion of earnings is being invested back into the business.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 25.0% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 55%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Heritage Commerce Is Still Building Its Track Record

Even though the company has been paying a consistent dividend for a while, we would like to see a few more years before we feel comfortable relying on it. The dividend has gone from US$0.12 in 2013 to the most recent annual payment of US$0.52. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 18% over that duration. Heritage Commerce has been growing its dividend quite rapidly, which is exciting. However, the short payment history makes us question whether this performance will persist across a full market cycle.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Achieve

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. However, Heritage Commerce has only grown its earnings per share at 2.2% per annum over the past five years. Growth of 2.2% 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 Heritage Commerce's Dividend

Overall, a consistent dividend is a good thing, and we think that Heritage Commerce has the ability to continue this into the future. The dividend has been at reasonable levels historically, but that hasn't translated into a consistent payment. The dividend looks okay, but there have been some issues in the past, so we would be a little bit cautious.

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. For example, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Heritage Commerce that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. 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.