- Dividend Brief
- Posts
- This Small Southern Bank Pays Out a Big Dividend Surprise
This Small Southern Bank Pays Out a Big Dividend Surprise
Noah Zelvis
October 09, 2025
In partnership with
Sometimes the best dividend stories don’t come from Wall Street heavyweights but from small-town America.
This Southern lender has stepped up its payouts and doubled down on rewarding loyal shareholders, proof that confidence can come in small, steady packages.
Jeff Bezos Says This New Breakthrough is Like “Science Fiction”
He called it a “renaissance.” No wonder ~40,000 people backed Amazon partner Miso Robotics. Miso’s kitchen robots fried 4M food baskets for brands like White Castle. In a $1T industry with 144% employee turnover, that’s big. So are Miso’s partnerships with NVIDIA and Uber. Initial units of its newest robot sold out in one week. Invest before Miso’s bonus shares change on 10/9.
This is a paid advertisement for Miso Robotics’ Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.misorobotics.com.
If you think you’ve got to look to Wall Street’s giants to find generous income plays, think again.
Sometimes the most interesting dividend stories come from small-town America — the kind of banks that know their customers by name and still hand out cookies in the branch lobby.
One of those quiet achievers is Bank of South Carolina (NYSE: BKSC), a regional lender that’s been quietly outpacing expectations.
This isn’t some flashy fintech disruptor or a trillion-dollar conglomerate.
It’s a compact, community-focused bank that’s been turning in solid results and rewarding its shareholders handsomely.
If you’re an income-hungry investor looking for something to smile about at a time when many banks are playing defence, BKSC’s dividend performance over the last 12 months might turn that frown upside down.
For investors who prefer steady income and stories a little off the beaten path, this small Southern bank may be worth a closer look.
Never Miss a Stock Recommendation Again!
We now send our dividend picks right to your phone via text, so you’ll get the same actionable moves without having to open your inbox.
How Does This Southern Gem Make Money?
Let’s pull back the curtain for a moment.
The Bank of South Carolina isn’t some sprawling financial empire with dozens of trading floors and flash skyscrapers dotted around the nation's economic hubs.
It's a straightforward, old-school community bank that keeps its business close to home.
Founded in Charleston in 1986, it has built its reputation on doing the basics well: taking deposits, making loans, and looking after local businesses and families across South Carolina’s Lowcountry.
The beauty of that simplicity lies in its predictability.
BKSC makes most of its money the traditional way, through the spread between what it pays depositors and what it earns on loans.
Its bread and butter is built on residential mortgages, commercial real estate financing, and small-business lending.
BKSC also earns a steady fee income from services like trust management, online banking, and wealth advisory.
These are modest streams, admittedly, but they’re consistent and they help keep earnings steady even when rates or loan volumes wobble.
Massive Potential Now (Sponsored)
The clock is ticking — and so is this rare opportunity.
At midnight, access to our newest report “5 Stocks Set to Double” will close.
Inside, you’ll discover companies with the strongest combination of growth potential, market momentum, and technical setups we’ve seen this year.
While future performance can never be guaranteed, earlier editions of this same report uncovered gains as high as +673%.¹
This is your last chance to see the picks before they’re gone.
[Download your free copy now before the deadline]
*This free resource is being sent by Zacks. We identify investment resources you may choose to use in making your own decisions. Use of this resource is subject to the Zacks Terms of Service.
*Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing involves risk. This material does not constitute investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. Zacks Investment Research is not a licensed dealer, broker, or investment adviser.
Playing The Local Advantage
As a community-focused institution, the bank has a deeper understanding of its customers, markets, and risks than most large players.
That local knowledge gives it an edge in credit quality and loyalty, two things that can make or break a regional lender when the economy turns choppy.
Add to that a conservative balance sheet and a well-capitalised position, and you’ve got a small bank that punches above its weight when it comes to consistency.
BKSC might not have the scale of a megabank, but what it does have is focus.
In a sector where steady, repeatable income is the name of the game, that's precisely what you want to see.
Action: Consider building a position gradually, reinvesting dividends to compound returns while monitoring credit trends and loan growth. |
Calm, Not Guesswork (Sponsored)
If the word “options” sounds complicated — it doesn’t have to be.
Mastering Options Trading: A Beginner’s Guide makes it simple for anyone to understand how options can work in any market.
This free, step-by-step e-book explains:
✅ How options help you profit from both gains and drops
✅ The difference between income, protection, and growth strategies
✅ Easy setups that professionals use every day
✅ How to get started safely — even if you’re brand new
No jargon. No hype. Just a clear roadmap to smarter, more flexible investing.
Download your free copy today and take your first step toward mastering options the smart way.
A Small Stock Punching Above Its Weight
Despite its modest size, Bank of South Carolina behaves like a company with something to prove.
It has built a habit of rewarding shareholders with regular, reliable cash, and lately, it has been turning up the volume.
Over the last 12 months, the bank’s board has approved a 35% increase in its dividend, raising the quarterly payout to $0.23 per share.
That puts the forward yield at 5.80%, comfortably above what most regional peers are offering.
In a market where many financials are tightening their belts, BKSC is leaning in. That confidence says a lot about management’s view of future earnings strength.
The current payout ratio sits around 56%–60%, meaning the dividend is covered by earnings but still generous enough to catch your attention.
The bank’s long-standing track record of quarterly distributions (144 and counting) reinforces that this isn’t a one-off headline grab, but part of a steady philosophy of returning value to shareholders.
Poll: What would you do first during a market crash? |
A Charleston Charmer with a Few Rain Clouds
You don’t need us to tell you that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Despite its green flags, BKSC doesn't come without some baggage either.
Its limited scale means less diversification and thinner buffers if credit losses rise or the local economy slows.
Liquidity can also be an issue, both in terms of trading volume and on the balance sheet, making it more vulnerable to deposit fluctuations.
With earnings tied mostly to interest margins, a sharp drop in lending demand or rate cuts could squeeze profits and test dividend coverage.
And while that 35% dividend hike grabs headlines, sustaining that pace of growth will be tough without a meaningful boost in loan growth or margins.
Final Thoughts
If you're the kind of investor with a bit of patience and a hankering for a slow, steady ride, Bank of South Carolina sits in that sweet spot between opportunity and restraint.
The yield is appealing, the recent dividend bump shows confidence, and the fundamentals look sound for now.
BKSC could make a thoughtful regional addition to your income-focused portfolio, just don’t overweight it.
Treat it as a side dish of Southern comfort, not the main course.
Action: BKSC works best as a steady income anchor in a diversified portfolio. Think of it as a slow-and-steady compounder. |
That’s all for today’s edition of the Dividend Brief.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any feedback or dividend stocks you want me to take a look at, just reply to this email!
—Noah Zelvis
DividendBrief.com