Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next two 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. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. Meaning, you will need to purchase Capital One Financial's shares before the 23rd of May to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 5th of June.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.60 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$2.40 to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that Capital One Financial has a trailing yield of 1.2% on the current share price of US$197.41. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Capital One Financial's dividend is reliable and sustainable. As a result, readers should always check whether Capital One Financial has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

We check all companies for important risks. See what we found for Capital One Financial in our free report.

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Capital One Financial paid out just 20% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances.

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.

See our latest analysis for Capital One Financial

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.NYSE:COF Historic Dividend May 20th 2025

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks with flat earnings can still be attractive dividend payers, but it is important to be more conservative with your approach and demand a greater margin for safety when it comes to dividend sustainability. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. With that in mind, we're not enthused to see that Capital One Financial's earnings per share have remained effectively flat over the past five years. It's better than seeing them drop, certainly, but over the long term, all of the best dividend stocks are able to meaningfully grow their earnings per share.

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Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Capital One Financial has delivered 7.2% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years.

To Sum It Up

Is Capital One Financial an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Capital One Financial has seen its earnings per share stagnate in recent years, although the company reinvests more than half of its profits in the business, which could bode well for its future prospects. Capital One Financial ticks a lot of boxes for us from a dividend perspective, and we think these characteristics should mark the company as deserving of further attention.

Ever wonder what the future holds for Capital One Financial? See what the 10 analysts we track are forecasting,  with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow

A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks.

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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.

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