Sound Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:SFBC) Could Be A Buy For Its Upcoming Dividend

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFBC) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. You will need to purchase shares before the 9th of February to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 24th of February.

Sound Financial Bancorp's next dividend payment will be US$0.27 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.78 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Sound Financial Bancorp has a trailing yield of 2.3% on the current share price of $33.4. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to investigate whether Sound Financial Bancorp can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

View our latest analysis for Sound Financial Bancorp

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Sound Financial Bancorp has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 17% of its income after tax.

When a company paid out less in dividends than it earned in profit, this generally suggests its dividend is affordable. The lower the % of its profit that it pays out, the greater the margin of safety for the dividend if the business enters a downturn.

Click here to see how much of its profit Sound Financial Bancorp paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Fortunately for readers, Sound Financial Bancorp's earnings per share have been growing at 13% a year for the past five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Sound Financial Bancorp has delivered an average of 26% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.

Final Takeaway

Has Sound Financial Bancorp got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Companies like Sound Financial Bancorp that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings, are usually reinvesting heavily in their business. This is one of the most attractive investment combinations under this analysis, as it can create substantial value for investors over the long run. In summary, Sound Financial Bancorp appears to have some promise as a dividend stock, and we'd suggest taking a closer look at it.

With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Sound Financial Bancorp you should be aware of.

We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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