Do These 3 Checks Before Buying Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPFH) For Its Upcoming Dividend

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPFH) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next three days. Investors can purchase shares before the 6th of August in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 21st of August.

Boston Private Financial Holdings's upcoming dividend is US$0.06 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$0.24 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Boston Private Financial Holdings has a trailing yield of 4.1% on the current share price of $5.885. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

See our latest analysis for Boston Private Financial Holdings

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. It paid out 88% of its earnings as dividends last year, which is not unreasonable, but limits reinvestment in the business and leaves the dividend vulnerable to a business downturn. We'd be worried about the risk of a drop in earnings.

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?

Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Boston Private Financial Holdings's earnings per share have fallen at approximately 8.5% a year over the previous five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the last 10 years, Boston Private Financial Holdings has lifted its dividend by approximately 20% a year on average. That's intriguing, but the combination of growing dividends despite declining earnings can typically only be achieved by paying out a larger percentage of profits. Boston Private Financial Holdings is already paying out 88% of its profits, and with shrinking earnings we think it's unlikely that this dividend will grow quickly in the future.

To Sum It Up

Is Boston Private Financial Holdings worth buying for its dividend? We're not overly enthused to see Boston Private Financial Holdings'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 being said, if you're still considering Boston Private Financial Holdings as an investment, you'll find it beneficial to know what risks this stock is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Boston Private Financial Holdings you should know about.

We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming 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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