Analysts tip jump in CBA dividend

Analysts are tipping Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd will follow its peers and increase dividend payments ahead of posting a record $7.6 billion profit, according to The Australian Financial Review. 

Deutsche Bank analyst James Freeman has increased his forecast for the second half of the year to June by 15¢ to $2 a share, which would put the bank's  full-year dividend at $3.64 after it paid a first-half dividend of $1.64 a share, well ahead of last year’s $3.34, the newspaper said (see Robert Gottliebsen's Making BHP more like CBA). 

Goldman Sachs analyst Andrew Lyons also raised his forecast for CBA to a second-half dividend of $2.12 a share, taking the full-year payout to $3.76.

CBA is expected to announced a $7.6 billion full-year profit for the year to June. 

Recent moves by rival banks to increase ­dividends will put pressure on CBA to increase profits, analysts said. 

In May, Westpac paid investors a special one-off dividend of 10¢ a share.

ANZ Banking Group has flagged a higher payout ratio in the future and ran a $425 million share buyback to return funds to investors, while National Australia Bank also returned money to shareholders in a $300 million share buyback.