The board of Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 28th of March, with investors receiving $0.22 per share. This makes the dividend yield 6.1%, which will augment investor returns quite nicely.

Check out our latest analysis for Flushing Financial

Flushing Financial's Payment Expected To Have Solid Earnings Coverage

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, Flushing Financial has a long history of paying out a part of its earnings to shareholders. Despite this history however, the company's latest earnings report actually shows that it didn't have enough earnings to cover its dividends. This is an alarming sign that could mean that Flushing Financial's dividend at its current rate may no longer be sustainable for longer.

According to analysts, EPS should be several times higher in the next 3 years. In addtion, they also estimate the future payout ratio could reach 60% in the same time period, which we would be comfortable to see continuing.

Flushing Financial Has A Solid Track Record

Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from $0.60 total annually to $0.88. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 3.9% over that duration. Slow and steady dividend growth might not sound that exciting, but dividends have been stable for ten years, which we think makes this a fairly attractive offer.

Dividend Growth Potential Is Shaky

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. However, things aren't all that rosy. Over the past five years, it looks as though Flushing Financial's EPS has declined at around 13% a year. Dividend payments are likely to come under some pressure unless EPS can pull out of the nosedive it is in. However, the next year is actually looking up, with earnings set to rise. We would just wait until it becomes a pattern before getting too excited.

We should note that Flushing Financial has issued stock equal to 17% of shares outstanding. Regularly doing this can be detrimental - it's hard to grow dividends per share when new shares are regularly being created.

In Summary

Overall, we don't think this company makes a great dividend stock, even though the dividend wasn't cut this year. Although they have been consistent in the past, we think the payments are a little high to be sustained. We don't think Flushing Financial is a great stock to add to your portfolio if income is your focus.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 2 warning signs for Flushing Financial that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. Is Flushing Financial 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.