The board of Southern States Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSBK) has announced that it will pay a dividend of $0.09 per share on the 12th of August. Including this payment, the dividend yield on the stock will be 1.2%, which is a modest boost for shareholders' returns.

See our latest analysis for Southern States Bancshares

Southern States Bancshares' Earnings Will Easily Cover The Distributions

While yield is important, another factor to consider about a company's dividend is whether the current payout levels are feasible.

Southern States Bancshares is just starting to establish itself as being able to pay dividends to shareholders, given its short 3-year history of distributing earnings. Despite the company's shorter dividend history however, calculating for its payout ratio of 9.8% shows that Southern States Bancshares is able to comfortably pay dividends.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 0.6%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the future payout ratio will be 10%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

Southern States Bancshares Doesn't Have A Long Payment History

The dividend hasn't seen any major cuts in the past, but the company has only been paying a dividend for 3 years, which isn't that long in the grand scheme of things. There hasn't been much of a change in the dividend over the last 3 years. It's good to see at least some dividend growth. Yet with a relatively short dividend paying history, we wouldn't want to depend on this dividend too heavily.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

Investors could be attracted to the stock based on the quality of its payment history. Southern States Bancshares has seen EPS rising for the last five years, at 25% per annum. Earnings have been growing rapidly, and with a low payout ratio we think that the company could turn out to be a great dividend stock.

Southern States Bancshares Looks Like A Great Dividend Stock

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. Distributions are quite easily covered by earnings, which are also being converted to cash flows. All in all, this checks a lot of the boxes we look for when choosing an income 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. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 1 warning sign for Southern States Bancshares that investors need to be conscious of moving forward. Is Southern States Bancshares not quite the opportunity you were looking for? Why not check out our selection of top dividend stocks.