First Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGBI) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. Meaning, you will need to purchase First Guaranty Bancshares' shares before the 21st of December to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 29th of December.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.16 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.64 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, First Guaranty Bancshares stock has a trailing yield of around 5.5% on the current share price of $11.73. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

View our latest analysis for First Guaranty Bancshares

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. First Guaranty Bancshares is paying out an acceptable 65% 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.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. So we're not too excited that First Guaranty Bancshares's earnings are down 3.2% a year over the past five years.

First Guaranty Bancshares also issued more than 5% of its market cap in new stock during the past year, which we feel is likely to hurt its dividend prospects in the long run. Trying to grow the dividend while issuing large amounts of new shares reminds us of the ancient Greek tale of Sisyphus - perpetually pushing a boulder uphill.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the last 10 years, First Guaranty Bancshares has lifted its dividend by approximately 3.9% a year on average. That's interesting, but the combination of a growing dividend despite declining earnings can typically only be achieved by paying out more of the company's profits. This can be valuable for shareholders, but it can't go on forever.

Final Takeaway

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid First Guaranty Bancshares? We're not overly enthused to see First Guaranty Bancshares's earnings in retreat at the same time as the company is paying out more than half of its earnings as dividends to shareholders. These characteristics don't generally lead to outstanding dividend performance, and investors may not be happy with the results of owning this stock for its dividend.

With that in mind though, if the poor dividend characteristics of First Guaranty Bancshares don't faze you, it's worth being mindful of the risks involved with this business. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for First Guaranty Bancshares (1 doesn't sit too well with us) you should be aware of.

Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.

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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.