Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.11 per share on the 1st of April. This means the annual payment is 4.6% of the current stock price, which is above the average for the industry.

View our latest analysis for Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp's Dividend Forecasted To Be Well Covered By Earnings

We like to see robust dividend yields, but that doesn't matter if the payment isn't sustainable.

Having distributed dividends for at least 10 years, Valley National Bancorp has a long history of paying out a part of its earnings to shareholders. Based on Valley National Bancorp's last earnings report, the payout ratio is at a decent 63%, meaning that the company is able to pay out its dividend with a bit of room to spare.

The next 3 years are set to see EPS grow by 91.8%. Analysts estimate the future payout ratio will be 39% over the same time period, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Valley National Bancorp Has A Solid Track Record

The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. There hasn't been much of a change in the dividend over the last 10 years. Dividends have grown relatively slowly, which is not great, but some investors may value the relative consistency of the dividend.

Dividend Growth May Be Hard To Come By

Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Unfortunately things aren't as good as they seem. It's not great to see that Valley National Bancorp's earnings per share has fallen at approximately 6.1% per year over the past five years. A modest decline in earnings isn't great, and it makes it quite unlikely that the dividend will grow in the future unless that trend can be reversed. Earnings are predicted to grow over the next year, but we would remain cautious until a track record of earnings growth is established.

We should note that Valley National Bancorp has issued stock equal to 10% of shares outstanding. Regularly doing this can be detrimental - it's hard to grow dividends per share when new shares are regularly being created.

Our Thoughts On Valley National Bancorp's Dividend

Overall, a consistent dividend is a good thing, and we think that Valley National Bancorp has the ability to continue this into the future. With shrinking earnings, the company may see some issues maintaining the dividend even though they look pretty sustainable for now. This looks like it could be a good dividend stock going forward, but we would note that the payout ratio has been at higher levels in the past so it could happen again.

Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For instance, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Valley National Bancorp that investors should take into consideration. Is Valley National Bancorp not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.

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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.