Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Value Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:VALU) is about to go ex-dividend in just 3 days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible 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. Accordingly, Value Line investors that purchase the stock on or after the 28th of October will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 12th of November.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.30 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$1.20 per share. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Value Line has a trailing yield of approximately 2.4% on its current stock price of US$49.04. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether Value Line has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

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. Value Line is paying out an acceptable 55% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies.

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 Value Line paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. For this reason, we're glad to see Value Line's earnings per share have risen 11% per annum over the last five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Value Line has delivered an average of 7.2% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.

Final Takeaway

Is Value Line worth buying for its dividend? Earnings per share are growing nicely, and Value Line is paying out a percentage of its earnings that is around the average for dividend-paying stocks. We think this is a pretty attractive combination, and would be interested in investigating Value Line more closely.

Keen to explore more data on Value Line's financial performance? Check out our visualisation of its historical revenue and earnings growth.

A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield 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.