Republic Bancorp, Inc. Class A RBCAA

Banks use their capital and expertise to help businesses grow while offering consumers essential financial products like mortgages and credit cards. But worries about an economic slowdown and potential credit deterioration have kept sentiment in check, and over the past six months, the banking industry’s 8.2% return has trailed the S&P 500 by 10.2 percentage points.

Small-cap stocks can be incredibly lucrative investments because their lack of analyst coverage leads to frequent mispricings. However, these businesses (and their stock prices) often stay small because their subscale operations make it harder to expand their competitive moats.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Republic Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:RBCAA) recently announced a total dividend of $0.50 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for Sept. 18, 2026. For investors, the ex-dividend date is a key deadline: shareholders must own the stock before that date to qualify for the payment.