Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares are a popular option for income investors.
It isn't hard to see why this is the case.
Earlier this month, the banking giant released its half-year results and reported a 3% decline in cash net profit after tax to $5,019 million.
However, that didn't stop the CBA board from lifting the bank's fully franked interim dividend by 2.4% to $2.15 per share.
This represents a payout ratio of 72%, which means that approximately $3.6 billion of CBA's cash profits are being distributed to shareholders next month.
But what's next for the CBA dividend? Should we expect more bumper payouts in the future? Let's find out what analysts are expecting from the bank.
CBA dividend forecast
According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts have upgraded their medium term earnings and dividend estimates following the release of the bank's half-year results.
The broker now expects CBA to pay a fully franked final dividend of $2.40 per share for the second half of FY 2024.
This will bring the bank's total dividends for FY 2024 to $4.55 per share, which represents an attractive dividend yield of approximately 4% for investors. It also means a modest 1.1% increase on FY 2023's dividend of $4.50 per share.
What's next?
Looking further ahead, Goldman Sachs now expects the CBA dividend to be $4.55 per share again in FY 2025. This will mean another dividend yield of approximately 4% for shareholders.
And for a third year in a row, Goldman believes that the bank will be paying out a fully franked $4.55 per share in FY 2026. So, that is of course another 4% yield for shareholders to look forward to that year.
