Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE) Looks Interesting, And It's About To Pay A Dividend

Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. Investors can purchase shares before the 22nd of October in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 30th of October.

Bridge Bancorp's upcoming dividend is US$0.24 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$0.96 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Bridge Bancorp stock has a trailing yield of around 4.9% on the current share price of $19.51. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. As a result, readers should always check whether Bridge Bancorp has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for Bridge Bancorp

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately Bridge Bancorp's payout ratio is modest, at just 39% of profit.

Companies that pay out less in dividends than they earn in profits generally have more sustainable dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more wiggle room the business has before it could be forced to cut the dividend.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. For this reason, we're glad to see Bridge Bancorp's earnings per share have risen 15% per annum over the last five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. It looks like the Bridge Bancorp dividends are largely the same as they were 10 years ago.

The Bottom Line

Is Bridge Bancorp 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. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. We think this is a pretty attractive combination, and would be interested in investigating Bridge Bancorp more closely.

On that note, you'll want to research what risks Bridge Bancorp is facing. For example - Bridge Bancorp has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.

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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