Is It Smart To Buy Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend?

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. You can purchase shares before the 14th of August in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 30th of August.

Southern Missouri Bancorp's next dividend payment will be US$0.15 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.52 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Southern Missouri Bancorp stock has a trailing yield of around 1.8% on the current share price of $33.1. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether Southern Missouri Bancorp has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

View our latest analysis for Southern Missouri Bancorp

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Southern Missouri Bancorp is paying out just 17% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events.

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 Southern Missouri 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, Southern Missouri Bancorp's earnings per share have been growing at 15% a year for the past five years.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Southern Missouri Bancorp has delivered an average of 12% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. It's great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.

To Sum It Up

Should investors buy Southern Missouri Bancorp for the upcoming dividend? Typically, companies that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings are keeping the profits for reinvestment in the 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, Southern Missouri Bancorp appears to have some promise as a dividend stock, and we'd suggest taking a closer look at it.

Want to learn more about Southern Missouri Bancorp's dividend performance? Check out this visualisation of its historical revenue and earnings growth.

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.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. 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. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.