American National Bankshares Inc. (NASDAQ:AMNB) Is About To Go Ex-Dividend, And It Pays A 3.5% Yield - Yahoo Finance

American National Bankshares Inc. (NASDAQ:AMNB) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 days time. You will need to purchase shares before the 5th of March to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 20th of March.

American National Bankshares's next dividend payment will be US$0.27 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$1.08 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that American National Bankshares has a trailing yield of 3.5% on the current share price of $30.85. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether American National Bankshares's dividend is reliable and sustainable. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

See our latest analysis for American National Bankshares

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. American National Bankshares 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.

NasdaqGS:AMNB Historical Dividend Yield, February 29th 2020

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 earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at American National Bankshares, with earnings per share up 4.2% on average over the last five years.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. American National Bankshares has delivered an average of 1.6% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past ten years of dividend payments.

To Sum It Up

Is American National Bankshares an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Earnings per share have been growing at a reasonable rate, and the company is paying out a bit over half its earnings as dividends. It doesn't appear an outstanding opportunity, but could be worth a closer look.

Ever wonder what the future holds for American National Bankshares? See what the three analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow

If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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.

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