Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) (NASDAQ:NFBK) Has Announced A Dividend Of $0.13

The board of Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) (NASDAQ:NFBK) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.13 per share on the 24th of May. Based on this payment, the dividend yield on the company's stock will be 5.0%, which is an attractive boost to shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)

Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)'s Dividend Forecasted To Be Well Covered By Earnings

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much.

Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) has a long history of paying out dividends, with its current track record at a minimum of 10 years. Based on Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)'s last earnings report, the payout ratio is at a decent 41%, meaning that the company is able to pay out its dividend with a bit of room to spare.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to fall by 3.2% over the next year. But assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the future payout ratio could be 46%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think would be feasible on an earnings basis.

Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) Has A Solid Track Record

The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. Since 2013, the annual payment back then was $0.24, compared to the most recent full-year payment of $0.52. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 8.0% over that duration. 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 Looks Likely To Grow

Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. We are encouraged to see that Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) has grown earnings per share at 18% per year over the past five years. The company is paying a reasonable amount of earnings to shareholders, and is growing earnings at a decent rate so we think it could be a decent dividend stock.

We Really Like Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY)'s Dividend

Overall, we like to see the dividend staying consistent, and we think Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) might even raise payments in the future. The distributions are easily covered by earnings, and there is plenty of cash being generated as well. 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. Taking this all into consideration, this looks like it could be a good dividend opportunity.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. For example, we've identified 2 warning signs for Northfield Bancorp (Staten Island NY) (1 shouldn't be ignored!) 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.