Dividend investing is a tried-and-true strategy for generating strong, steady returns in economies both good and bad. But as corporate America's slew of dividend cuts and suspensions over the past few years has demonstrated, it's not enough simply to buy a high yield. You also need to make sure those payouts are sustainable.
Let's examine how New York Community Bancorp
1. Yield
First and foremost, dividend investors like a large forward yield. But if a yield gets too high, it may reflect investors' doubts about the payout's sustainability. If investors had confidence in the stock, they'd be buying it, driving up the share price and shrinking the yield.
New York Community Bancorp yields a whopping 6.7%, considerably higher than the S&P's 1.8%
2. Payout ratio
The payout ratio might be the most important metric for judging dividend sustainability. It compares the amount of money a company paid out in dividends last year to the earnings it generated. A ratio that's too high -- say, greater than 80% of earnings -- indicates that the company may be stretching to make payouts it can't afford, even when its dividend yield doesn't seem particularly high.
New York Community Bancorp's payout ratio is a moderately high 81%.
3. Balance sheet
The best dividend payers have the financial fortitude to fund growth and respond to whatever the economy and competitors throw at them. The Tier 1 capital ratio is a commonly used leverage metric for banks that compares equity and reserves with total risk-weighted assets. In a non-financial crisis, a ratio above 13% is generally considered to be relatively conservative.
Let's examine how New York Community Bancorp stacks up next to its peers:
|
Company |
Tier 1 Capital Ratio |
|---|---|
|
New York Community Bancorp |
13.7% |
|
Zions Bancorp |
15.5% |
|
People's United Financial |
13.9% |
|
First Niagara Financial Group |
13.3% |
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.
4. Growth
A large dividend is nice; a large growing dividend is even better. To support a growing dividend, we also want to see earnings growth.
Over the past five years, New York Community Bancorp's earnings per share have grown at a 4% annual rate, while free cash flow has declined slightly, and its dividend has remained flat.
The Foolish bottom line
New York Community Bancorp exhibits a fairly reasonable dividend bill of health. It has a big yield, a reasonable payout ratio, and appears to have adequate capital. Due to its moderately high payout ratio, investors looking for dividend growth will want to pay particular attention to the company's earnings growth.
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