Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see GDH Guangnan (Holdings) Limited (HKG:1203) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled 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. Meaning, you will need to purchase GDH Guangnan (Holdings)'s shares before the 3rd of October to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 25th of October.

The company's next dividend payment will be HK$0.01 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of HK$0.03 per share. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, GDH Guangnan (Holdings) has a trailing yield of approximately 5.0% on its current stock price of HK$0.60. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

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. That's why it's good to see GDH Guangnan (Holdings) paying out a modest 42% of its earnings. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. It paid out 85% of its free cash flow as dividends, which is within usual limits but will limit the company's ability to lift the dividend if there's no growth.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

Click here to see how much of its profit GDH Guangnan (Holdings) paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. GDH Guangnan (Holdings)'s earnings per share have fallen at approximately 11% a year over the previous five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. GDH Guangnan (Holdings)'s dividend payments per share have declined at 2.8% per year on average over the past 10 years, which is uninspiring. It's never nice to see earnings and dividends falling, but at least management has cut the dividend rather than potentially risk the company's health in an attempt to maintain it.

To Sum It Up

Is GDH Guangnan (Holdings) an attractive dividend stock, or better left on the shelf? Its earnings per share have been declining meaningfully, although it is paying out less than half its income and more than half its cash flow as dividends. Neither payout ratio appears an immediate concern, but we're concerned about the earnings. To summarise, GDH Guangnan (Holdings) looks okay on this analysis, although it doesn't appear a stand-out opportunity.

With that being said, if dividends aren't your biggest concern with GDH Guangnan (Holdings), you should know about the other risks facing this business. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for GDH Guangnan (Holdings) you should be aware of.

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.