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 S.F. Holding Co., Ltd. (SZSE:002352) is about to go ex-dividend in just two days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Accordingly, S.F. Holding investors that purchase the stock on or after the 7th of November will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 7th of November.

The company's next dividend payment will be CN¥1.40 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of CN¥0.60 per share. Based on the last year's worth of payments, S.F. Holding stock has a trailing yield of around 1.3% on the current share price of CN¥45.33. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. As a result, readers should always check whether S.F. Holding has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately S.F. Holding's payout ratio is modest, at just 30% of profit. 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 distributed 31% of its free cash flow as dividends, a comfortable payout level for most companies.

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 the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

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. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. For this reason, we're glad to see S.F. Holding's earnings per share have risen 14% per annum over the last five years. The company has managed to grow earnings at a rapid rate, while reinvesting most of the profits within the business. Fast-growing businesses that are reinvesting heavily are enticing from a dividend perspective, especially since they can often increase the payout ratio later.

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, eight years ago, S.F. Holding has lifted its dividend by approximately 25% a year on average. It's exciting to see that both earnings and dividends per share have grown rapidly over the past few years.

The Bottom Line

Is S.F. Holding worth buying for its dividend? S.F. Holding has grown its earnings per share while simultaneously reinvesting in the business. Unfortunately it's cut the dividend at least once in the past eight years, but the conservative payout ratio makes the current dividend look sustainable. There's a lot to like about S.F. Holding, and we would prioritise taking a closer look at it.

With that in mind, a critical part of thorough stock research is being aware of any risks that stock currently faces. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for S.F. Holding you should know about.

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.