Is It Smart To Buy Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend?
Readers hoping to buy Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. If you purchase the stock on or after the 30th of January, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 14th of February.
Ally Financial's next dividend payment will be US$0.19 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.76 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Ally Financial has a trailing yield of 2.4% on the current stock price of $32.14. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Ally Financial's dividend is reliable and sustainable. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.
View our latest analysis for Ally Financial
Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Ally Financial paid out just 16% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances.
Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. That's why it's comforting to see Ally Financial's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 26% per annum for the past five years.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Since the start of our data, four years ago, Ally Financial has lifted its dividend by approximately 24% a year on average. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.
Final Takeaway
Is Ally Financial an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? When companies are growing rapidly and retaining a majority of the profits within the business, it's usually a sign that reinvesting earnings creates more value than paying dividends to shareholders. This strategy can add significant value to shareholders over the long term - as long as it's done without issuing too many new shares. In summary, Ally Financial appears to have some promise as a dividend stock, and we'd suggest taking a closer look at it.
Wondering what the future holds for Ally Financial? See what the 15 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.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
