As a group, publicly traded banks in the U.S. paid out less in cash dividends in 2021 compared to 2020, despite several of the nation's largest banks increasing quarterly payouts after the Federal Reserve ended the emergency COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on their capital distributions.
Total dividends, payout ratio down
Publicly traded banks distributed an aggregate of $54.32 billion in dividends to their shareholders for the year ended Dec. 31, 2021, down 2.1% from the previous year, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market intelligence. The median dividend payout ratio was 21.1%, which is lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Top dividend payers
More than 80% of the cash dividends paid by publicly traded banks in 2021 came from 20 institutions. The median payout ratio of the group was 30.4%.
Of the 20 banks with the most dividends paid in 2021, 17 distributed a higher amount of dividends than in 2020. At most of these institutions, however, the dividend payout ratio was lower compared to the previous year.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. topped the list of dividend payers among banks, distributing $12.86 billion to shareholders during the year ended Dec. 31, 2021, an increase of 1.3% compared to its payout in 2020. The dividend payout ratio was 24.7%, down from 40.5% in 2020.
Meanwhile, Huntington Bancshares Inc. had the highest dividend payout ratio among the top 20 dividend payers. It recorded a payout ratio of 67.2%, with dividends amounting to $888.0 million in 2021. The amount of dividends was 27.2% higher than the previous year, but the payout ratio was down from 87.0%.
Banks with lower dividends YOY
Among the 20 publicly traded banks with the most dividends paid in 2021, Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc. and KeyCorp were the only institutions with aggregate dividends lower than 2020 levels.
Wells Fargo paid $3.63 billion in dividends to its shareholders, 40.9% lower than in 2020. The dividend payout ratio dropped from 283.7% in 2020 to 12.1% in 2021.
Total dividends from Citigroup inched down 2.9% to $5.20 billion, representing a payout ratio of 20.1%. In 2020, the institution had a dividend payout ratio of 43.2%.
KeyCorp distributed an aggregate of $823.0 million in dividends in 2021, 0.7% lower than in 2020. The dividend payout ratio was 28.5%, down from 58.3% in 2020.