C&F Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CFFI) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date occurs one day before the record date which is the day on which shareholders need to be on the company's books in order to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. This means that investors who purchase C&F Financial's shares on or after the 14th of December will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of January.

The company's upcoming dividend is US$0.44 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$1.76 per share to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, C&F Financial has a trailing yield of approximately 2.9% on its current stock price of $60.84. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

View our latest analysis for C&F Financial

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. C&F Financial has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 21% of its income after tax.

Companies that pay out less in dividends than they earn in profits generally have more sustainable dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more wiggle room the business has before it could be forced to cut the dividend.

Click here to see how much of its profit C&F Financial paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. It's encouraging to see C&F Financial has grown its earnings rapidly, up 35% a year for the past five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, 10 years ago, C&F Financial has lifted its dividend by approximately 4.3% a year on average. It's good to see both earnings and the dividend have improved - although the former has been rising much quicker than the latter, possibly due to the company reinvesting more of its profits in growth.

The Bottom Line

Is C&F Financial an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Companies like C&F Financial that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings, are usually reinvesting heavily in their business. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. Overall, C&F Financial looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.

Keen to explore more data on C&F Financial's financial performance? Check out our visualisation of its historical revenue and earnings growth.

If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.