Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) Is Paying Out A Dividend Of $0.18

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) will pay a dividend of $0.18 on the 30th of June. This means that the annual payment will be 2.9% of the current stock price, which is in line with the average for the industry.

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Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida's Earnings Will Easily Cover The Distributions

Unless the payments are sustainable, the dividend yield doesn't mean too much.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a short history of paying out dividends, with its current track record at only 4 years. Diving into the company's earnings report, the payout ratio is set at 48%, which is a decent ratio of dividend payout to earnings, and may sustain future dividends if the company stays at its current trend.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 18.1%. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we think the future payout ratio could be 50% by next year, which is in a pretty sustainable range.

See our latest analysis for Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Is Still Building Its Track Record

The dividend has been pretty stable looking back, but the company hasn't been paying one for very long. This makes it tough to judge how it would fare through a full economic cycle. The annual payment during the last 4 years was $0.52 in 2021, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $0.72. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 8.5% over that duration. Investors will likely want to see a longer track record of growth before making decision to add this to their income portfolio.

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Although it's important to note that Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida's earnings per share has basically not grown from where it was five years ago, which could erode the purchasing power of the dividend over time. The company has been growing at a pretty soft 0.07% per annum, and is paying out quite a lot of its earnings to shareholders. This isn't necessarily bad, but we wouldn't expect rapid dividend growth in the future.

Our Thoughts On Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida's Dividend

Overall, we think Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is a solid choice as a dividend stock, even though the dividend wasn't raised this year. The payout ratio looks good, but unfortunately the company's dividend track record isn't stellar. This looks like it could be a good dividend stock going forward, but we would note that the payout ratio has been at higher levels in the past so it could happen again.

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. Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 4 analysts we track are forecasting for Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida for free with public analyst estimates for the company. 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.