Northern Trust Corporation's (NASDAQ:NTRS) investors are due to receive a payment of $0.75 per share on 1st of July. This makes the dividend yield 3.3%, which will augment investor returns quite nicely.

Our free stock report includes 1 warning sign investors should be aware of before investing in Northern Trust. Read for free now.

Northern Trust's Earnings Will Easily Cover The Distributions

If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much.

Northern Trust has established itself as a dividend paying company with over 10 years history of distributing earnings to shareholders. Based on Northern Trust's last earnings report, the payout ratio is at a decent 28%, meaning that the company is able to pay out its dividend with a bit of room to spare.

Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to fall by 17.1% over the next 3 years. Despite that, analysts estimate the future payout ratio could be 37% over the same time period, which is in a pretty comfortable range.

Check out our latest analysis for Northern Trust

Northern Trust Has A Solid Track Record

The company has an extended history of paying stable dividends. The annual payment during the last 10 years was $1.32 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was $3.00. This means that it has been growing its distributions at 8.6% per annum over that time. The growth of the dividend has been pretty reliable, so we think this can offer investors some nice additional income in their portfolio.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Northern Trust has impressed us by growing EPS at 10% per year over the past five years. Northern Trust definitely has the potential to grow its dividend in the future with earnings on an uptrend and a low payout ratio.

We Really Like Northern Trust's Dividend

Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. The company is generating plenty of cash, and the earnings also quite easily cover the distributions. If earnings do fall over the next 12 months, the dividend could be buffeted a little bit, but we don't think it should cause too much of a problem in the long term. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. As an example, we've identified 1 warning sign for Northern Trust that you should be aware of before investing. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of 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.