Virtu Financial (NYSE:VIRT) Has Announced A Dividend Of $0.24

Virtu Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VIRT) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.24 per share on the 15th of September. Based on this payment, the dividend yield will be 2.2%, which is fairly typical for the industry.

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Virtu Financial's Payment Could Potentially Have Solid Earnings Coverage

We aren't too impressed by dividend yields unless they can be sustained over time. However, Virtu Financial's earnings easily cover the dividend. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to fall by 21.5% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could be 27%, which we consider to be quite comfortable, with most of the company's earnings left over to grow the business in the future.

See our latest analysis for Virtu Financial

Virtu Financial Has A Solid Track Record

The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. The most recent annual payment of $0.96 is about the same as the annual payment 10 years ago. Although we can't deny that the dividend has been remarkably stable in the past, the growth has been pretty muted.

We Could See Virtu Financial's Dividend Growing

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. Virtu Financial has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 7.2% per annum. Growth in EPS bodes well for the dividend, as does the low payout ratio that the company is currently reporting.

Virtu Financial Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. The distributions are easily covered by earnings, and there is plenty of cash being generated as well. If earnings do fall over the next 12 months, the dividend could be buffeted a little bit, but we don't think it should cause too much of a problem in the long term. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. 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 8 analysts we track are forecasting for Virtu Financial for free with public analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

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