Auburn National Bancorporation’s (NASDAQ:AUBN) Dividend Will Be US$0.26 – Yahoo Finance

The board of Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUBN) has announced that it will pay a dividend of US$0.26 per share on the 25th of June. Based on this payment, the dividend yield on the company's stock will be 2.7%, which is an attractive boost to shareholder returns.

Check out our latest analysis for Auburn National Bancorporation

While it is great to have a strong dividend yield, we should also consider whether the payment is sustainable. Before making this announcement, Auburn National Bancorporation was earning enough to cover the dividend, but it wasn't generating any free cash flows. No cash flows could definitely make returning cash to shareholders difficult, or at least mean the balance sheet will come under pressure.

Unless the company can turn things around, EPS could fall by 0.9% over the next year. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio could be 50%, which we consider to be quite comfortable, with most of the company's earnings left over to grow the business in the future.

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Even over a long history of paying dividends, the company's distributions have been remarkably stable. Since 2011, the first annual payment was US$0.78, compared to the most recent full-year payment of US$1.04. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 2.9% 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.

The company's investors will be pleased to have been receiving dividend income for some time. Let's not jump to conclusions as things might not be as good as they appear on the surface. Although it's important to note that Auburn National Bancorporation's earnings per share has basically not grown from where it was five years ago, which could erode the purchasing power of the dividend over time.

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In summary, while it's good to see that the dividend hasn't been cut, we are a bit cautious about Auburn National Bancorporation's payments, as there could be some issues with sustaining them into the future. While the low payout ratio is redeeming feature, this is offset by the minimal cash to cover the payments. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. See if management have their own wealth at stake, by checking insider shareholdings in Auburn National Bancorporation stock. We have also put together a list of global stocks with a solid dividend.

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. 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.

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Auburn National Bancorporation's (NASDAQ:AUBN) Dividend Will Be US$0.26 - Yahoo Finance