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 Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII) is about to go ex-dividend in just 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. In other words, investors can purchase Huntington Ingalls Industries' shares before the 22nd of February in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 8th of March.

The company's upcoming dividend is US$1.30 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$5.20 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Huntington Ingalls Industries stock has a trailing yield of around 1.8% on the current share price of US$285.09. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Huntington Ingalls Industries's dividend is reliable and sustainable. 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 Huntington Ingalls Industries paying out a modest 29% of its earnings. Yet cash flow is typically more important than profit for assessing dividend sustainability, so we should always check if the company generated enough cash to afford its dividend. Fortunately, it paid out only 29% of its free cash flow in the past year.

It's positive to see that Huntington Ingalls Industries's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. So we're not too excited that Huntington Ingalls Industries's earnings are down 2.1% a year over the past five years.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. Huntington Ingalls Industries has delivered an average of 29% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments.

To Sum It Up

Is Huntington Ingalls Industries worth buying for its dividend? Earnings per share are down meaningfully, although at least the company is paying out a low and conservative percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. It's definitely not great to see earnings falling, but at least there may be some buffer before the dividend needs to be cut. In summary, it's hard to get excited about Huntington Ingalls Industries from a dividend perspective.

In light of that, while Huntington Ingalls Industries has an appealing dividend, it's worth knowing the risks involved with this stock. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Huntington Ingalls Industries you should know about.

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.