Be Sure To Check Out Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. Thus, you can purchase Berkshire Hills Bancorp's shares before the 11th of May in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 26th of May.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.12 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$0.48 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock has a trailing yield of around 1.9% on the current share price of $25.39. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

See our latest analysis for Berkshire Hills 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. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 19% 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 the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Berkshire Hills Bancorp, with earnings per share up 5.7% on average over the last five years.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has seen its dividend decline 2.8% per annum on average over the past 10 years, which is not great to see. It's unusual to see earnings per share increasing at the same time as dividends per share have been in decline. We'd hope it's because the company is reinvesting heavily in its business, but it could also suggest business is lumpy.

To Sum It Up

Is Berkshire Hills Bancorp an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Berkshire Hills Bancorp has seen its earnings per share grow slowly in recent years, and the company reinvests more than half of its profits in the business, which generally bodes well for its future prospects. Berkshire Hills Bancorp ticks a lot of boxes for us from a dividend perspective, and we think these characteristics should mark the company as deserving of further attention.

On that note, you'll want to research what risks Berkshire Hills Bancorp is facing. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Berkshire Hills Bancorp (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you ought to be aware of before buying the shares.

Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are 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.