Readers hoping to buy Southern States Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSBK) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. This means that investors who purchase Southern States Bancshares' shares on or after the 2nd of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 16th of May.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.09 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.36 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Southern States Bancshares has a trailing yield of 1.5% on the current share price of US$24.34. 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.

See our latest analysis for Southern States Bancshares

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Southern States Bancshares paid out just 9.8% of its profit last year, which we think is conservatively low and leaves plenty of margin for unexpected circumstances.

Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.

Click here to see how much of its profit Southern States Bancshares paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. That's why it's comforting to see Southern States Bancshares's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 25% per annum for the past five years.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. It looks like the Southern States Bancshares dividends are largely the same as they were three years ago.

The Bottom Line

Should investors buy Southern States Bancshares for the upcoming dividend? When companies are growing rapidly and retaining a majority of the profits within the business, it's usually a sign that reinvesting earnings creates more value than paying dividends to shareholders. Perhaps even more importantly - this can sometimes signal management is focused on the long term future of the business. We think this is a pretty attractive combination, and would be interested in investigating Southern States Bancshares more closely.