Three Days Left To Buy The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) Before The Ex-Dividend Date

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Thus, you can purchase PNC Financial Services Group's shares before the 15th of July in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 5th of August.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$1.60 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$6.20 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that PNC Financial Services Group has a trailing yield of 3.8% on the current share price of US$164.30. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

See our latest analysis for PNC Financial Services Group

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. PNC Financial Services Group is paying out an acceptable 52% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies.

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?

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. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at PNC Financial Services Group, with earnings per share up 5.6% 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. PNC Financial Services Group has delivered 13% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.

To Sum It Up

Should investors buy PNC Financial Services Group for the upcoming dividend? PNC Financial Services Group has been generating some growth in earnings per share while paying out more than half of its earnings to shareholders in the form of dividends. It doesn't appear an outstanding opportunity, but could be worth a closer look.

Ever wonder what the future holds for PNC Financial Services Group? See what the 17 analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow

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.

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